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FACTS ABOUT PIPE 



THIRD EDITION. 



ISSUED BY 



NATIONAL TUBE WORKS CO. 



- 

11 

I 

COMPILED BY v h U v r 

E^C CONVERSE, 

Vice-President and General Manager. 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

E. C. CONVERSE. 



<Z-W1? 



National Tube Works Company. 



New York City, July ist, 1895. 

To Local Managers of our various "Branch Houses : 

Gentlemen: 

In February, 1885, we issued the first of our compilation of 
data embodying facts in reference to the pipe systems in use for 
water, manufactured and natural gases, oil, compressed air, etc., 
and the respective merits of wrought and cast iron pipe for such 
purposes. 

The first volume was issued to meet the exigencies of the 
times, and the amount of data was so voluminous and wide- 
spread that it was impossible to skillfully arrange it with any 
degree of brevity. 

In 1890 a revised edition was printed, but so many new 
letters of recommendation, commendation and appreciation, have 
been sent us by the consumers of our Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Water and Gas Pipe Systems, that we have deemed it well to 
publish a third edition, without any attempt to treat with all the 
cases that have come to our notice, but giving many facts, in 
more or less condensed form, derived from, and based upon, 
original statistical information on file in the Company's archives, 
which cannot fail to be of assistance and value alike to the seller 
and to the intending buyer. 

The information herein contained is not intended to be used 
in any unfair way, but is given to the employes of the Company 
for the sole purpose of enabling them to meet unfair charges 
against the National Tube Works Company and its product. 

This book must be kept as a confidential communication, for 
it is mainly intended to give you ready reference and incon- 
trovertible facts. Nothing herein contained is intended for 
publication- 

Yours truly, 

E. C. CONVERSE, 

Vice-President and General Manager. 



EARLY WATER WORKS. 

From available statistics and historical data it would appear 
that the first introduction of water supply into houses by pipes 
under pressure was in connection with the London Bridge Water- 
Works, established in 1582. The earliest water-mains were of 
lead or wood, but it was not until cast-iron came into use for this 
purpose, about 1810, that the water supply of cities and towns 
began to receive its full development. 

The introduction of pumping machinery for domestic water 
supply dates from May 30, 1581, when a certain Peter Maurice 
was granted a lease to erect an engine within the first arch of 
London Bridge, for the purpose of supplying the city of London 
with water. These works, it appears, proved so successful that 
he was granted the privilege of erecting another engine in the 
second arch of the bridge. 

His pumping machinery consisted of an undershot wheel, 20 
feet in diameter, having 26 floats 14 feet long by 18 inches wide. 
Each wheel gave motion, by means of toothed wheels and levers, 
to 16 pumps in such a manner that for every revolution the 
plungers made 21-5 strokes, each stroke amounting to 2 feet and 
6 inches. The plungers were 7 inches in diameter and the water- 
wheels made about six revolutions per minute, the speed depend- 
ing upon the flow of the tide. Making no allowance for slip, the 
two wheels were thus able to pump at the rate of 2,500,000 gal- 
lons in twenty-four hours. 

The oldest water-works in the United States are supposed to 
be those at Bethlehem, Pa., which were built in 1754 by Hans. 
Christopher Christiansen, a millwright and a native of Denmark. 
The water was taken from a spring issuing near the banks of the 
Menogassi Creek, as it was then called. The water was con- 
ducted 350 feet through an underground conduit into a cistern, 
when it was pumped by a 5-inch wooden pump through bored 
hemlock logs to a height of 70 feet into a wooden tank in the 
village square. Trouble was experienced from the bursting of 
the pipes, and, as a remedy, i}( inch pipes of sheet lead, sold- 
ered along the edges and bedded in a cement of pitch and brick - 
dust and laid in a gutter, were tried. However, they do not ap- 
pear to have given much satisfaction. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



In 1762 Christiansen, aided by one John Arbo and one Mar- 
shall, built larger works. An 18-foot undershot wheel was made 
to drive three single acting iron force pumps, having a 4-inch 
bore and 18-inch stroke. The force mains were of gum wood 
and the distributing pipes were of pitchpine. The latter had to 
be renewed in 1769. In 1786 lead pipe was substituted for the 
gumwood force main and for most of the distributing pipes. 
The last pitchpine pipe was abandoned in 1791. The reservoir 
was a little wooden tower. This was removed in 1803 and a 
stone tower was built. This was about 15 feet high and con- 
tained a tank at an elevation of about 112 feet above the spring. 
A reservoir was built some years later on higher ground and the 
water-tower was abandoned. The triple pumps were also re- 
placed by one double-acting pump. In 1868 steam power was 
used for pumping, and in 1874 the wooden conduit from the 
spring to the pump-house was replaced by an 18-inch iron pipe. 

Until the year 1800 there were in the United States, in addi- 
tion to Bethlehem, only the following seven water-works, 
given in the order and with the years of their construction 



Providence, R. I., 

Salem, Mass., 
Geneva, N. Y., 
Portsmouth, N. IT. 
Worcester Mass., 
Morristown, N. J., 
Peabody, Mass., 



1772 
1796 
1797 
1797 
1798 
1799 
1799 



From that time on progress in the adoption of water-works 
has been steady and uninterrupted, and now even compara- 
tively small towns enjoy the advantages afforded by them. — 
Fire and Water, October 15, 1892. 



CONVERSE PATENT LOCK JOINT PIPE. 



WATER. 



The first patent for the Converse Hub was granted January 
ioth, 1882. After completing the necessary details for the 
manufacture of this specialty, we made the first shipment of 
Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe, for water conduits, May 22nd, 
of the same year. 

We give below the exact number of feet of the various sizes of 
this pipe which we have shipped on orders for water, manu- 
factured and natural gas, oil, compressed air and other pur- 
poses, from May 22nd, 1882, to January 1st, 1894. The figures 
have been taken from our shipping order books and are accurate 
to the foot: 

210,303 feet 
762,717 

i,93 2 , oS 5 
283,602 

2,235,93! 

14,840 

860,854 

28,440 

454 

487,419 

1,630,677 

100,759 

36,670 

739,000 

5,423 

133,39 s 
24-inch 3,571 



2-1 


nch 


3" 1 


nch 


4-1 


nch 


5-i 


nch 


6- 


nch 


7- 


nch 


8- 


nch 


8> 


^-inch 


9- 


nch 


10- 


nch 


12- 


inch 


14- 


nch 


15- 


inch 


16- 


inch 


18- 


inch 


20- 


inch 



Total 



9,466,143 feet 



Or over one thousand seven hundred and ninety=two miles, 

aggregating seventy=two thousand tons of this particular class 
of Pipe. A portion of this amount of Converse Joint Pipe has 
been used in the construction of several hundreds of water-works 
systems, either complete or in part, with the necessary fittings 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



and appurtenances, among which may be mentioned the follow 
ing: 

Aberdeen, City of So. Dak. 

Adams, Mass. 

Adrian Water-Works, Adrian, . . Mich. 

Aetna Mining Co., Springfield Junction, Pa. 

Albuquerque Water Co. , Albuquerque, . N. Mex. 

Anaconda Commercial Co., Anaconda, . , Mont. 

Anacortes Water- Works, Anacortes, . . Wash. 

Ashland Water-Works, Ashland, . . Ore. 

Aspen Water- Works, Aspen, .... Colo. 

Athens Asylum for Insane, Athens, . . Ohio. 

Aqua Pura Company, Las Vegas, . . N. Mex. 

Baker City Water- Works, Baker City, . . Ore. 
B. & O. Railroad Company's Water System, 

Bessemer Water-Works, Bessemer, . . Mich. 

Benicia Arsenal, Benicia, ... Cal. 

Berkley (Alamedia Water Co.), Berkley, . Cal. 

Berkley (University of Cal.), Berkley, . Cal. 

Billings Water Power Co., Billings, . . Mont. 

Birmingham Water- Works, Birmingham, . Ala. 

Blair Water-Works, Blair, . . . Neb. 

Boise City Water-Works, Boise City, . . Idaho. 

Bozmau Water-Works, Bozman, . . Mont. 

Braddock, Pa. 

Brainard Water-Works, Brainard, . . Minn. 

Brigham City Water-Works, Brigham City, . Utah. 

Britton, So. Dak. 

Brookings, ... ... So. Dak. 

Brookville City Water Co., Brookville, . . Pa. 

Buena Vista, ...... Colo. 

Buffalo Water-Works, Buffalo, . Wyo. 

Butte City Water Company, Butte, . . Mont. 

Calumet & Hecla Mining Co., Lake Linden, . Mich. 

Castle Creek Water Co., Aspen, . . . Colo. 

Centralia, Wash. 

Central City, So. Dak. 

Chamberlain, City of, ... . . So. Dak. 

Chadron Water-Works, Chadron, . . Neb. 

Cheboygan, Mich. 



PARTIAL RECORD OF PIPE FURNISHED. 



Charlestown Water-Works, Charlestown, . W. Va. 

Chestertown, ....... Md. 

Chicopee Water Co. , Chicopee, . . Mass. 

Clebourne, ....... Tex. 

Clinton, ....... Mass. 

Colorado Springs, ...... Colo. 

Columbia Water Co. , Columbia, . Tenn. 

Columbia Water-Works, Astoria, . . Ore. 

Columbus Water- Works, Columbus, . Tex. 

Coronado Beach Company, San Diego, . Cal. 

Council Bluffs Water Co., Council Bluffs, . Iowa. 

Corvallis, ........ Ore. 

Crested-Butte Water & Lt. Co., Crested Butte, Colo. 

Crookston Water-Works, Crookston, . . . Minn. 

Deer Lodge Water Co., Deer Lodge, . . Mont. 

Defiance Water- Works, Defiance, . . . Ohio. 

Del Norte, Colo. 

Delta, ........ Colo. 

Dixon Water- Works, Dixon, .... Ills. 

Doland, ........ So. Dak. 

East Chicago, ...... Ills. 

East Dubuque Water-Works, East Dubuque, . Ills. 
East Greenwich Water Supply Co., East Green- 
wich, . . . . . . . R. I. 

East St. Louis Water Co., East St. Louis, Ills. 

Eau Claire, ....... Wis. 

Edge Hill Vineyard, Napa County, . Cal. 

Ellendale, N. Dak. 

El Paso de Robles, ..... Cal. 

El Paso Water Company, El Paso, . . Tex. 

Eureka, ........ Nev. 

Evanston Water- Works, Evanston, . . Wyo. 



Fairplay Water- Works, Fairplay, 
Faribault, ...... 

Fenton Water-Works, Fenton, . 
Fergus Falls Water- Works, Fergus Falls, 
Fort Benton Water- Works, Fort Benton, 
Fort Buford, ...... 

Fort Coeur d' Alene, .... 

Fort Collins Water-Works, Fort Collins, 



Colo. 

Minn. 

Mich. 

Minn. 

Mont. 

N. Dak. 

Idaho. 

Colo. 



10 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Fort Gratiot Water- Works, Fort Gratiot, 

Fort Pembina, ..... 

Fort Sherman, ..... 

Fort Snelling, ... 

Fort Totton, 

Freeport, ... 

Fredericksburg, 

Fremont Center, . 

Fremont Water- Works, Fremont, 

Fresno Water-Works, Fresno, 

Fulton Water- Works, Fulton, 



Mich. 

N. Dak. 

Idaho. 

Minn. 

N. Dak. 

Ills. 

Va. 

Mich. 

Mich. 

Cal. 

Ills. 



Gardner Water-Works, Gardner, . . Mass. 

Geneseo, City of ... . . Ills. 

Georgetown, ..... Tex. 

Glamis Mining Co., Glamis, .... Cal. 

Glenwood Springs, ...... Colo. 

Glenwood, . . Minn. 

Golden, Colo. 

Gonzales Water- Works Co., Gonzales, . . Tex. 

Grafton, W. Va. 

Grand Forks Water-Works, Grand Forks, . N. Dak. 

Grand Haven Water- Works, Grand Haven, Mich. 

Grants Pass, . . . . . . Ore. 

Green Bay, '. • Wis. 

Greenville Water- Works, Greenville, . Ills. 

Gunnison Water- Works, Gunnison, . Colo. 



Haddonfield Water Co., Haddonfield, 
Hailey, ...... 

Hammond Water- Works, Hammond, 
Hancock Water- Works, Hancock, 
Hanford Water- Works, Hanford, 
Healdsburg Water Co., Petaluma, 
Helena Water Co., Helena, 
Hillsboro, ...... 

Houghton, ..... 

Honolulu Water- Works, Honolulu 
Huachuca Water Co. , Tombstone, 
Hurley, Water-Works, Hurley . 
Huron, City of ... 



N. J. 

Idaho. 

Ind. 

Mich. 

Cal. 

Cal. 

Mont. 

N. Mex. 

S. Dak. 

S. Isles. 

Ariz. 

Wis. 

S. Dak. 



PARTIAL RECORD OF PIPE FURNISHED. 



11 



Independence, ..... 

Ionia Water- Works, Ionia, 

Iowa Hospital for Insane, Independence, 

Iowa, ....... 

Ironwood Water- Works, Ironwood, 



Iowa. 

Mich. 

Iowa. 

Cal. 

Mich. 



Jamestown, 



N. Dak. 



Kansas City Water Co., Kansas City, 


. Mo. 


Kearney, ....... 


Neb. 


Kelseyville, 


. Cal 


Kewanee Water- Works, Kewanee, . 


Ills. 


Laconia Water-Works, Laconia, 


. N. H. 


Lake Linden, ...... 


Wash. 


Lake Valley, ...... 


. N. Mex 


Lake Village Water Co., Lake Village, 


N. H. 


Las Vegas, ...... 


. N. Mex 


La Peer Water- Works Co., La Peer, 


Mich. 


Laredo Water- Works, Laredo, 


Tex 


Leadville Water Co., Leadville, 


Colo. 


Logan, ........ 


Iowa. 


Longmont Water- Works, Longmont, 


Colo. 


Los Angeles, ....... 


Cal. 


Los Carrillos, ...... 


N. Mex 


Los Delicos, Sonora, ..... 


Mex. 


Luddington Water Supply Co., Luddington, 


. Mich. 


Luddington, . . . . . . 


Mich. 


Lynn Public Water Board, Lynn, 


Mass. 


Mamaroneck Water Co., Mamaroneck, . 


N. Y. 


Mandan, ....... 


. N. Dak 


Manistee, ....... 


Mich. 


Mankato, ....... 


. Minn. 


Marblehead Water Co., Marblehead, 


Mass. 


Marin County Water Co., San Rafael, 


. Cal. 


Marion, ........ 


Kan. 


Marshall, 


. Mo. 


McKeesport, ....... 


Pa. 


Menominee Mining Co., Iron Mountain, 


Mich. 


Merrill, 


Wis. 


Midland, 


Mich. 


Milford Water Co., Milford, . 


Mass. 



12 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Minneapolis, ....... Minn. 

Mishawaka Water- Works, Mishawaka, . . Ind. 

Mission Water Co., Santa Barbara, . . Cal. 

Missoula Water-Works, Missoula, . . . Mont. 

Monroe Water Works Co., Monroe, . . La. 

Montevideo Water-Works, Montevideo, . Minn. 

Monticeto Valley Water Co., San Rafael, . Cal. 

Monticeto, ...... Cal. 

Montrose, ........ Colo. 

Mt. Pleasant, Pa. 

Mt. Vernon Water-Works, Mt. Vernon, Ind. 

Municipal Investment Co, Chicago, . Ills. 

Muskegon Water-Works, Muskegon, . . Mich. 

National City Water- Works, National City, Cal. 

New Haven Water Co., New Haven, . Conn. 

Newman Water- Works, Newman, . . Cal. 

Newton, Kan. 

Nevada, . Mo. 

Nevada City, Cal. 

North Platte Water- Works Co., North Platte, Neb. 

Old Tacoma, . Wash. 

Omaha, ....... Neb. 

Ord, Neb. 

Oregon City, . Ore. 

Oregon Pacific R. R. Co., Corvallis, . . Ore. 

Oscoda, Mich, 

Ottumwa Water- Works, Ottumwa, . Iowa. 

Ouray, Colo. 

Pacific Improvement Co., Santa Barbara, . Cal. 

Palo Alto, Cal. 

Paso Robles Water Co., Paso Robles, . Cal. 

Peerless Mining Co., .... Ariz. 

Pendleton, Ore. 

Pendleton, Wash. 

Perkins Water-Works Mfg. Co., Nevada, . Mo. 

Petaluma, Cal. 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Phillipsburg, Mont. 

Phillipsburgh, Kan. 

Phoenix Water Co., Phcenix, .... Ariz. 



PARTIAL RECORD OF PIPE FURNISHED. 



13 



Pierre, ........ S. Dak. 

Pueblo, ........ Colo. 

Portland, ........ Ore. 

Quincy Water-Works, Quincy, . . . Mass. 

Rapid City Water-Works, Rapid City, ■■. S. Dak. 

Raton Water Co., Raton, .. . . . N. Mex. 

Red Bluff, Cal. 

Ripon, ........ Wis. 

Riverton, . . . . . . . . Neb. 

Roseberg, ... ... Ore 

Salem, ........ Ohio. 

Salida Water- Works, Salida, .... Colo. 

Sandwich Water- Works, Sandwich, . . . Ills. 

St. Claire, City of, . . . . . . Mich. 

St. Claire Water- Works, St. Claire, . Mich. 

St. Louis, ....... Mo. 

San Bernardino Water-Works, San Bernardino, . Cal. 

San Bruno, ....... Cal. 

San Diego & Coronado Water Co., San Diego, . Cal. 

San Diego Land & Town Co., San Diego, . Cal. 

San Francisco, ....... Cal. 

San Gabriel Water- Works Co., Georgetown, . Tex. 

San Pedro Water-Works, San Pedro, . . N. Mex. 

San Rafael, ........ Colo. 

Sandwich, City of, ..... . Ills. 

Santa Barbara, ...... Cal. 

Sauk Center Water-Works, Sauk Center, . Minn. 

Sault Ste Marie, Mich. 

Savanna Water-Works, Savanna, . . . Ills. 

Seattle, ........ Wash. 

Seneca Falls Water Co., Seneca Falls, . . N. Y. 

Sierra City, ....... N. Mex. 

Silverton, ...... Colo. 

Sioux Falls Water Co., Sioux Falls, . . S. Dak. 

Smith Center, ...... Kan. 

Snohomish, ....... Wash. 

Socorro, ....... N. Mex. 

Sonora, ........ Mex. 

Spearfish Water- Works, Spearfish, . . . S. Dak. 



14 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Spokane Falls Water Co., Spokane Falls, . Wash. 

Springfield Water- Works, Springfield . . Ills. 

Spring Hill Water Co., Seattle, .... Wash. 

Sundance, ....... Wyo. 

Swampscott, ....... Mass. 

Tacoma, ... .... Wash. 

Tacoma, Old, ... . Wash. 

Templeton, ....... Cal. 

Texas Water & Gas Co., Terrill, . . Tex. 

Texas Water & Gas Co., Tyler, . Tex. 

Tombstone, ....... Ariz. 

Tunichi Valley Smelting Co., Gunnison, Colo. 

Turners Falls, ...... Mass. 

Tuscarora Water Co., Tuscarora, . . . Nev. 

Tyler, ........ Tex. 

Ukiah Water Co., Ukiah Cal. 

United States Wind, Engine & Pump Co., . Ills. 

University of California, Berkeley, . . Cal. 

Vallejo Water- Works, Vallejo, . . . Cal. 

Virginia & Gold Hill Water- Works, Virginia, . Nev. 

Wahpeton Water- Works, Wahpeton, . N. Dak. 

Walla Walla Water Co. , Walla Walla, . Wash. 

Ware Fire Department, Ware, . . Mass. 

Warm Springs, .... Cal. 

Walsenberg, ....... Colo. 

Washburn, ........ Minn. 

Wellington, ....... Kan. 

Waukesha Hygea Mineral Springs Co., Chicago, Ills. 

Wellsville Water Co., Wellsville, . . . N. Y. 

West Point Neb. 

Whitewood, S. Dak. 

Wichita Water Co. , Wichita, . . Kan. 

Wisconsin Construction Co., . . . Wis. 

Wisner, ........ Neb. 

Woolston, ....... Mass. 



Yaquina, 



Ore. 



PERFECTLY SATISFACTORY UNDER GREAT PRESSURE. 15 



From the very large number of reports regarding our Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Pipe for Water-Works uses, we submit the 
following exact copies : 

ABERDEEN, DAKOTA. 

Aberdeen, Dak., July ioth, 18S5. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiry as to how your Kalainein water pipe, fitted 
with patent Converse Dock Joint, pleases us, would say that it gives us per- 
fect satisfaction. We have a constant pressure of from 165 to 250 lbs. per 
square inch, and we never have had a leak since the works were completed 
and tested. 

We have had occasion to examine the pipe when making connections 
for services, and have found the pipe in as good condition as when laid ; no 
signs whatever of corrosion or rust, which fact is highly satisfactory when 
you consider the fact that our soil is highly impregnated with alkali. 

With the thermometer 52 degrees below zero we have had no trouble 
with our pipes freezing. 

In conclusion we can say that your pipe has been all that you claimed 
for it, and fills the bill perfectly. 

(Signed) Jerome H. Schutt, 

Supt. of Water Works and Chief of Fire Department. 



ADRIAN, MICHIGAN. 

Adrian, Mich., April 4th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of a recent date, I will say we have used a large 
quantity of your pipe on services and extensions and are well pleased and 
satisfied that it is all you have claimed for it. We shall use considerable of 
it this year. 

The Adrian, Mich., Water Works, 
(Signed) R. H. Baker, Supt. 



ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. 

AebuoueRQUE, N. M., May 27th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I beg leave to inform you that the Water Works at this place, con- 
structed by me, for which your Company furnished seven miles of 14-in., 
10-in. and 5-in. pipe, are completed and have been accepted by the Water 
Company. Permit me to say a word regarding your Dap-welded Kalamein 
Converse Joint pipe. I find it much lighter, the joints (lengths) longer and 
more easily handled than cast-iron pipe. Where freights are an item, there 
is about one-half difference in favor of your pipe. It is more rapidly and 
cheaply laid, taking about one half the labor and lead — I can with the same 
men lay double the distance in a day. As to tensile strength, I tested the 
works here under two hundred (200) lbs. per square inch pressure, without 
a single leak, or developing any sort of weakness in the pipe. Our streams 
were fully satisfactory, reaching double the height required by my contract. 



16 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



I can say from past experience with cast-iron pipe, that all conditions 
being equal, a stream will reach ten feet higher for each sixty pounds pres- 
sure, through your Lap-welded wrought-iron Converse Patent L,ock Joint 
pipe, than can be done through cast-iron pipe. I write this letter simply on 
account of the satisfaction your pipe has given me and the Water Company 
here. 

Hoping to do further business with you in the near future, permit me 
to remain, 

(Signed) George F. Woolston, 

Constructing Engineer Albuquerque Water Company. 



ALBUQUERQUE, N. M., Jan. 19th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of the 16th, I would say that, prior to my taking 
charge of the works here, I was not disposed to regard wrought-iron pipe 
for distributing mains, favorably. After three years' experience with your 
Converse Joint Kalamein pipe, I have now no doubt in regard to its dura- 
bility in this soil, and, as the soil here is strongly impregnated with alkali 
and minerals in different forms, / would not hesitate to use it in any place. 

Having had occasion to lately cut into our old Converse Joint lines for 
the purpose of putting in branches, I found not the least corrosion and that 
the pipe was as clean inside as when first put in. 

In regard to the cheapness with which the pipe can be laid, I will say 
that the entire cost of laying 7,500 ft. of 5-in pipe, including lead, distribut- 
ing pipe, ditching and filling, drayage in moving from one part of town to 
another, making connections to old lines and setting 14 fire hydrants, was 
but 5 6-10 cents per foot. In one day four men put together, calked and 
laid 750 ft. 

(Signed) C. J. Stetson, Supt. 

Albuquerque, N. M., January 27th, 1890. 
F. C. Finkle, Esq., San Bernardino, Cat. 

Replying to yours of the 22d inst. , I wish to state that when our works 
were built we laid 6 l / 2 miles of the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe and 
have lately laid 1 1 / 2 miles more of the same kind. A critical examination 
having failed to show any internal and external corrosion, I can say that, in 
our experience with it, it has given perfect satisfaction. 
(Signed) C. J. Stetson, 

Supt. Albuquerque Water Co. 



Albuquerque, N. M., October 25, 1889. 
f. R. Both well, Esq., Ogden, Utah. 

I have been requested by the National Tube Works Company to give 
you our opinion in regard to the Kalamein water pipe made by them. We 
laid 6y z miles of it in 1882, and this year laid lyi miles additional, which is 
sufficient to show that we have found the pipe entirely satisfactory. When 
we wish to lay any more we will certainly purchase the same kind. I am 
satisfied that on account of its smooth interior surface it certainly has a 



CLEAN AND GOOD AFTER TEN YEARS. 17 



greater carrying capacity than cast-iron pipe, but we have never made any 
test whereby we could tell how much greater it is. What I consider the 
great feature of this pipe is the cheapness with which it can be laid and the 
safety from damage in shipping. In regard to its durability, I can say that 
I lately had occasion to cut into our mains for the purpose of putting in 
branches, and found absolutely no indication of corrosion, while black iron 
service pipes have been entirely destroyed in our soil in 6 months' time. 
(Signed) C. J. Stetson, 

Supt. Albuquerque Water Co. 



Office of Water Supply Company ) 

Albuquerque, N. M., Oct. iSth, 1892. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your favor of 14th, will say the Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Kalamein pipe is giving good satisfaction. It is carrying from 80 to 100 lbs. 
pressure. We have had only two leaks, and the cost of repairing them was 
small. The pipe is in good condition and does not cost much to lay it, 
there being quite a saving of lead and labor over cast iron. It is laid in 
both adobe and sandy soil. It is always clean inside and no bad taste of 
water after it is laid. It is far superior to cast-iron pipe. The water may 
stand in Kalamein pipe for weeks and will come out clear with a good taste, 
while if it stands in cast-iron pipe one day it comes out colored and with a 
taste of iron or rust. 

Water Supply Co., 
(Signed) B. F. Davis, Supt. 



AMERICAN WATER WORKS AND GUARANTEE CO., LIM. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 27th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

During a number of years I have been building water works, first in in- 
dividual partnership and subsequently as General Manager of the American 
Water Works and Guarantee Co., Dim , and during that time have directed the 
construction of over thirty water ivorks systems located at various points in the 
United States, many of which involve the expenditure of hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars, and as the company of which I am General Manager owns 
and operates all of these different water works systems I have had quite an 
experience with Converse Patent Dock Joint Kalamein pipe, for during that 
time we have used in a number of places the Kalamein pipe and have found 
it very satisfactory indeed, having had ample opportunity of comparing its 
work with that of cast iron, which we have also used a great deal of. 

As to the Kalamein pipe, though, I would say that in some instances 
which I call to mind at this moment we have had this Kalamein pipe under 
high pressure for over five years and as far as I am able to learn at the 
present time, there is 710 complaint or fault to find with it in any way. I 
might say that the only weak point that I ever found in reference to it (and 
this has been remedied since the time it was called to my attention), was 
that the lead joint where the bell was leaded on to the pipe, at the works was 
sometimes not thoroughly calked, consequently would naturally allow water 



18 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



to leak, as the lead was not driven home ; but, since the time we were 
troubled on account of this joint not being driven tight, we have always 
gone over each joint of pipe as we laid it in the ditch and driven the lead as 
tight as possible and since then we have had no trouble whatever. There are 
very great advantages in the use of this pipe ; usually the company making 
it are able to give very prompt and satisfactory deliveries of it and then the 
question of freight is a very important one, in which there is quite a saving 
in favor of Kalamein. Other than that mentioned, which was slight and 
not the fault of the pipe at all, I do not call to mind any weak points re- 
garding it. The points which have impressed themselves upon us favorably 
are that it has very great tensile strength and uniform thickness, which of 
course prevent it from breakiug or leaking through the pipe, as we so fre- 
quently have occur with cast-iron pipe, requiring expensive repairs from 
breaks after the line is under pressure. This is a thing that never happens 
with Kalamein pipe. Then, when properly coated with Kalamein and 
Asphalt treatment, I do not believe there is very much question as to its 
durability, for it seems, as I said, as far as we are able to judge, fully equal 
in life with cast-iron pipe. We have noticed that the length of each indi- 
vidual piece of pipe is so much greater than that of cast iron pipe, that there 
is a great saving in the number of lead joints, and of course a more effective 
service by less obstruction in the pipe and I am convinced it shows less 
friction than cast-iron pipe. 

We have used it both East and West and have seen no reason to change 
our good opinion regarding it. 

(Signed) W. S. Kuhn, Gen'l Manager, 

American Water Works and Guarantee Co., Limited. 



ANACONDA, MONTANA. 

Anaconda, Mont., October 26th, 1S90. 
J. R. Bothwell, Esq., Ogden, Utah. 

We understand that you are about to purchase considerable pipe, and 
have been asked to give you our experience with Kalamein pipe. 

We can say that after carefully investigating the matter we bought over 
15 cars of Kalamein pipe for water works here, and it has proved very satis- 
factory. We have had no repairing to do, and with a pressure of 92 lbs. per 
square inch. The advantage it has over other pipe iu weight makes it much 
quicker laid and easier to handle, while its smooth interior makes much less 
friction than other pipe — a point often under estimated. This pipe we 
freely endorse, and think will warrant all that is claimed for it. 

Hoping that our word of endorsement may assist you in forming your 
opinion, as it is entirely disinterested and only given because we personally 
have had experience which justifies it, we remain, 

(Signed) Anaconda Commercial Company, 

F. E. MiEEER, Mgr. 

ASHLAND, OREGON. 

Chicago, October 19th, 1892. 
Superintendent Water Works, Ashland, Oregon. 

We take the liberty of asking you as to the satisfaction the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, which we furnished some time since, is 



SPIRAL WELDED PIPE NOT SATISFACTORY. 19 



giving and any other information you can give us, such as the amount of 
pressure it is carrying ? breaks, if any ? annual cost of repairs ? present 
condition of the pipe ? economy of lead and labor in laying ? internal condi- 
tion, with reference to cleanliness? effect, if any, on the water? 

We ask the above, as we have just learned that a person representing 
the makers of Spiral Welded Steel Pipe had said that the National Tube 
Works Pipe was a poor lot of stuff ; was not giving good satisfaction, and 
that on that account they had sold a large quantity of Spiral Welded Steel 
Pipe to your city. 

We are extremely anxious to get at the bottom facts regarding the matter 
and if you can consistently advise us as to the true state of affairs we shall 
be under obligation to you for so doing. 

Soliciting an early reply, we remain, 

National Tube Works Co. 

The reply is appended. It is evident the Superintendent does 
not care to state the actual condition of the '' Spiral Welded 
Steel Pipe " further than to suggest that — If we had used more 
of the Kalamein Pipe our City would have been better off. 



Ashland, Oregon, Oct. 29th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your letter of the 19th, asking information in regard to the 
satisfaction of the Converse L-ock Joint Kalamein Pipe our city bought of 
your Company, I will answer your questions in their order : 

Amount of pressure ? 1 10 to 200. 

Breaks? None. 

Annual cost of repairs ? Nothing. 

Present condition of pipe ? Good. 

Economy of lead and labor ? Considerable. 

Internal condition ? It is very clean, and it has no effect on the water. 

If we had used more of the Kalamein pipe our City would have been 
better off. 

(Signed) Ira C. Dodge, 

Supt. Water Works. 



ASPEN, COLORADO. 

Castle Creek Water Co., j 
Aspen, Colo , October 25th, 1892. \ 

Natio?ial Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of October 19th is before me. In reply will state, in answer 
to your questions, that at present we carry a pressure ranging from 80 to 
125 lbs., according to location of pipe ; this — following spring — will have a 
pressure of highest, 150 lbs. ; so far we have had but one break in pipe, 
occurring several years ago. The annual cost of repairs has been nothing at 
all, excepting the break mentioned before, which you paid for. The present 
condition of the pipe is excellent — just as good (as near as I can see) as the 
day it was placed in ground. The economy of lead and labor is very 



20 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



great over cast iron, as the actual cost of laying \" Kalamein does not 
exceed 2 cents per foot for labor, while cast iron costs as high as 10 cents. 
The character of soil is rocky, loamy and about every character you can 
imagine, from going through solid rock, crossing mining streams of water, 
through marshy ground, sand, etc. The internal condition of the pipe is 
excellent ; the surface being smooth, it has no opportunity of collecting 
anything inside. Have had pipe in the ground since 1885, and so far 
have not found rust. In conclusion will state that we are very much 
pleased with your Kalamein pipe, and will not use any other. 

(Signed.) Harry G. Koch, Supt. 

Member American Water Works Association and 
New England Water Works Association. 



BAKER CITY, OREGON. 



Office; of Baker City Water Works, 1 
Baker City, Oregon, Dec. 16th, 1892. / 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of Oct. 19th came to hand some time ago, and should have 
answered it before, but have been very busy. 

I have been at work for the city for the last two years, and have been 
in charge of the water system for several months. 

The Kalamein pipe has given good satisfaction, and we carry 72 pounds 
pressure, equal to 175 foot head. 

We have had some leaks at the joints, which, I think, were caused by 
not being properly calked when laid. 

The soil varies along the route of pipe, there being some gravel, loam, 
sand and black adobe. 

At present the mains are in good repair, and the internal condition of 
the pipe, I think, is good, judging from a section of the pipe that was 
washed out by high water last spring. 

As to economy of lead and labor in laying the pipe, I do not know, 
as I have not had the experience, this pipe being laid before I took charge 
of the works. 

The water in the Kalamein pipe is sweet at all times where it has 
a circulation, but as with other kinds of pipe it gets bad at the dead ends. 

We have no cast-iron pipe in use in our system. 

I do not know of anything more that I can say that would be of 
interest to you. 

(Signed.) L. A. Parker, Supt. 



benicia, california. 

Benicia Arsenal, } 

Benicia, Cae., December 4th, 1SS9. } 
National Ttibe Works Co. 

Replying to 3'our letter of the 3rd inst., I have the honor to state that 
the 6-inch Converse Wrought Iron Pipe, 2,700 feet in length, purchased 
from you in March, 1889, for use at this Arsenal, was laid above ground in 
June. 



EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION. 21 



Water is pumped through it to a height of two hundred and three (203) 
feet ; the pressure has not caused any leaks. Slight leaks at the joints — 
probably caused by expansion and contraction, are easily repaired by 
hammering the lead packing. 

The pipe was readily laid by enlisted men, under the superintendence 
of one of our machinists. I consider the pipe satisfactory in every respect 
at this date. 

(Signed) John A. Kress, 

Major Ordnance Dept. U. S. Army. 



Saint Louis Powder Depot, 1 

Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Oct. 25th, 1892. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter inquiring about the use and wear of pipe which I purchased 
at Benicia Arsenal, I believe three years ago, was forwarded to me here. 
I left Benicia in September, 1890, and cannot make reply to any of your 
questions, but I will re-mail your letter to Lieut. -Colonel L. S. Babbitt, 
Ordnance Department, who now commands that arsenal, and request him 
to answer your queries, if possible, and not too inconvenient. I think he 
will give you all the information obtainable on the subject. 
(Signed) John A. Kress, 

Major Ord. Dept. U. S. Army, Comdg. Depot. 



Saint Louis Powder Depot, \ 

Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Oct. 26th, 1892. \ 
Respectfully transmitted to Lieut. -Col. L. S. Babbitt, commanding 
Benicia Arsenal, with recommendation that, if not too inconvenient, the 
desired information be given to the National Tube Works Company. 

John A. Kress, 
Major Ord. Dept., Comdg. Depot. 



Benicia Arsenae, ) 
California, Nov. 4, 1892. f 
Respectfully returned to National Tube Works, with replies annexed to 
questions. The Kalamein Pipe is laying on the surface of the ground, and 
is, of course, subjected to greater strains than to changes of temperature, 
which accounts for a leaky joint occasionally, but which declines to pull 
apart. 

No section having been taken up or replaced, nothing is known of the 
interior of the pipe. 

L. S. Babbitt, 
Lieut.-Col. Comdg. Ord. 

Amount of pressure it is carrying About 50 lbs. 

Breaks, if any No breaks. 

Annual cost of repairs Slight. 

Present condition of the pipe Re-calking some joints. 

Economy of lead and labor. . . Great saving in work. 

Character of soil in which it is laid .... It is laid on the surface. 

Effect, if any, on the water No material effect. 

How it compares with cast-iron pipe. . No cast-iron pipes with which to 

compare. 



22 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



BEBEELEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Berkeley, Cae., March 15th, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The lap-welded wrought iron pipe, purchased of you about three years 
ago, upon your recommendation, has proven satifactory. We have had no 
occasion to regret its adoption over other pipe. Quality and price consid- 
ered, we believe it to be the cheapest and best pipe in the market. 

(Signed) Robt. E. C. Stearns, Secretary, 

University of California. 



Berkeley, Cae., Dec. 4th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of yesterday requesting my opinion about your Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Pipe was duly received, and in reply would say that for 
a number of years past our Company has used your pipe to a large extent, 
and has had a chance of giving it a thorough, practical lest. 

We have now from six to eight miles of it in our works, and I must say 
that it has given us perfect satisfaction and can recommend it for its light- 
ness, strength, durability and the cheap, expeditious mode of laying it. 
(Signed) L. Weeeendorf, Supt., 

The Alamedia Water Company. 



BESSEMER, MICHIGAN. 

BESSEMER, Mich., January 2d, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of October 19th, to Mr. C. S. Bundy, has been referred to me for 
answer. In reply will say that the Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein 
Pipe furnished by the N. T. W. Co., some years since is giving good satis- 
faction, and we don't wish for better. 

It is carrying a fire pressure of 167 pounds and 60 pounds domestic 
pressure. 

We had one joint leak under a pressure of 245 pounds, which cost us 
about $5 to repair. 

The present condition of the pipe is good. 

We cannot say as to the " economy of lead and labor in laying," as we 
only have the one kind of pipe. 

The soil is hard-pan, quick-sand and rock. 

Its "internal condition, with reference to cleanliness," clean. 

It has no effect on the water. 

We have no cast iron pipe in use. 

Please furnish me a catalogue of Kalamein goods. 

(Signed) GEO. T. Wieeiams, Supt. Water Works. 



BILLINGS, MONTANA. 

BiEEiNGS, MONT., January 19th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to your inquiry about the Kalamein pipe furnished us in 1886 
would say : We have about five and one-half miles of this pipe which is 



NO BREAKS OR LEAKS IN TEN YEARS. 23 



laid in moist ground, strongly impregnated with alkali, and in which ordi- 
nary pipe will last but a short time. We have not found a place so far 
where this pipe has rusted a particle, nor have we had a single burst, al- 
though the pipe has been worked at times under very heavy pressure. 77 
has given us entire satisfaction and we most heartily recommend it. 
(Signed) Billings Water-Power Co., 

H. W. Rowley, Secretary and Engineer. 



Billings, Mont., October 22d, 1S89. 
J. R. Bothwell, Esq., Ogden, Utah. 

We are requested by the National Tube Works Co. to give you our ex- 
perience with Kalamein pipe. We now have about 6 miles of the pipe, 
which has been in use for about 4 years, and it has given excellent satisfac- 
tion. The pipe is very strong ; we never have had a break although we 
have carried as high as 200 lbs. pressure. We have never found a place yet 
where the pipe showed a particle of rust, although the ground is wet and 
alkali, and common black pipe will rust entirely out in about 5 years. The 
pipe can be laid very quickly and uses only a small amount of lead. Owing 
to its smoothness and freedom from rust, we find that the pipe will carry 
fully 50 per cent, more water than some cast iron pipes of same size which 
we have in use, owing to the roughness of the cast iron and its becoming 
covered with bunches of rust on the inside, which makes the water-friction 
very great. 

This is a candid statement of our experience, and we ca?i heartily rec- 
ommend the Kalamein pipe. 

(Signed) Billings WaTer-Power Co. 

H. W. Rowley, Sec'y. 



Billings Water-Power Company, 

Billings, Montana, Oct. 21, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your communication in regard to our experience with Kalamein Pipe 
is at hand. We have something over six miles of mains of your pipe which 
is used under a variable pressure up to 150 lbs. Most of this pipe was put 
in in the fall of 1886, and up to the present time we have never had a 
break or leak. The soil is very hard on pipe here, and common wrought 
iron pipe will rust out in four or five years, but as yet we have not dis- 
covered a place in the Kalamein Pipe which has given any sign of being 
affected. Internally the pipes are exceptionally clean, so far as I have been 
able to examine, and they have no effect on the water. 

(Signed) H. W. Rowley, Sec'y & Supt. 



BOSTON", MASSACHUSETTS. 

BOSTON, March 13, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry concerning Wrought Iron Pipe for Water 
Mains, would say that in several most important respects I consider it far 
superior to any other kind of pipe in use at the present time. 



24 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Its strength and semi-flexibility make it secure against fracture or 
rupture, either in handling, laying or service. Of the some 35 miles of it 
that I have laid I have not known of a single case of injury from either of 
the above causes, and have seen a recorded water hammer on it of 145 lbs. 
per square inch. My impression is that it is safe to use under very 
excessive pressures, even approximating 300 lbs. per square inch. 

Your Converse Patent Lock Joint makes an almost perfect continuity 
of the interior surface, which is very smooth and conducive to large carry- 
ing capacity for any given size. In my opinion your outside diameter 
wrought iron pipe with this joint, and its long lengths, will convey more 
water, under a given head, than the same size of internal diameter cast 
iron pipe, as usually made and laid. 

Early in 1883 I laid about 8 miles of this pipe, coated with asphalt ; the 
soil was a peculiar mixture of clay and gravel, quite moist. On account of 
a street being regraded, we were obliged to take up and relay about one- 
half mile of this in the fall of 1884, and it was found to be perfectly free 
from rust or corrosion of any kind. At many other points where it has 
been dug up for the purpose of making connections, etc., it has always been 
found in equal good condition. 

In the fall of 1883 and spring of 1884 I laid about 20 miles of this pipe 
having a metal coating (Kalameiu) and afterwards an asphaltum coating. 
This was laid through nearly every conceivable soil, from clean, dry sand 
to salt marsh, and as far as I know it is all in good condition to-day. 
Service pipes having been connected with it at different points over its 
entire length, we have had good opportunities to examine it, and have 
always found it perfect. Other pipes laid at various times have given 
equally good results. 

(Signed.) A. II. Howland. 



BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 

Birmingham, Ai^a., September 30, 1S82. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have finished laying the 2,000 feet of Converse Lock Joint Pipe for 
the Birmingham Water Works, and as plumbers and fitters we would like 
to say what we think of it : 

It is only fun to lay this size. Four of us laid 900 feet in seven hours. 
We managed it in this way : one man looked after the melting of the lead ; 
two men coupled the pipe and prepared the joint ; one man followed and 
did the calking. Then we lifted the pipe off bricks that were under each 
joint and turned on the water. Every joint was perfectly light. The 
Superintendent was present, and all he said was, "Order some more;" 
and we did so. Over other pipe of the same size it has some merits, and 
among them the following : 

It is easily handled ; it does not require pits at the joints, as cast iron 
pipe ; it requires less lead and less calking, consequently costs less ; it will 
allow more water to pass, and with less friction to the amount passed. All 
pipe men who have seen it like it. 

(Signed) R. KnauFF & Co., Contractors. 



TIGHT UNDER 230 POUNDS PRESSURE. 25 



BRAINBKD, MINNESOTA. 

Brainerd, February 8th, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

At our test to-day of your Indestructible Kalamein Converse Joint Pipe, 
we put the pressure up to 230 pounds and held it there some time without a 
break anywhere in our ten miles of mains. Had the gauge been so gradu- 
ated we would have run the pressure up to 300 pounds, with the firm belief 
that the pipe would have stood that or any pressure it was possible to put on 
it. With 100 pounds we connected two two and one-half inch hose, 400 feet 
long, from one hydrant, and from one-inch nozzles threw two splendid 
streams 100 feet high. As we have refrained from comments heretofore, 
let us now say that the pipe has proved more satisfactory to us than you 
gave us reason to expect. The expense of freight, hauling, laying and the 
lead consumed in caulking, is much less than for cast iron pipe, and we 
cannot account for the use of any other pipe where this is known. In con- 
clusion let us say that the representatives of your Company leave with us 
and our people the impression that it is the determination of the National 
Tube Works Company to make their work first-class in every particular. 
(Signed) C. F. Kindred, President. 

E. E. WEBSTER, Treasurer. 

N. J. Sarviers, Secretary. 

THE WATER WORKS. 

A Final Successful Pipe Test — Every Expectation Met— Splendid 

Fire Service Shown. 

Chief Engineer Tom Sheltou, of the National Tube Works, accompanied 
by Mr. T. W. Brooks, witnessed a pipe test of the works yesterday and 
Thursday, which was done under Mr. Kindred's personal supervision. At 
the first test the pressure reached 180 pounds, when the trial was postponed 
to next day. At that pressure results were perfect. Streams from faucets 
where the water was not shut off, would knock a glass out of the hand. 

Yesterday the final test was made in the presence of all the officers of 
the Company. A pressure of over 225 pounds was secured— in fact was near 
to 230 as the register would indicate, with results all that could be desired. 
The Kalamein pipe was equal to every test. During the test Chief Farnham 
and Assistant Chief French, assisted by Al Hawks, foreman of No. 1, laid a 
line of hose from the Fifth and Laurel Street hydrant, and threw an inch 
and a half stream clear over the cross on the Catholic Church steeple. With 
a "Siamese connection" two splendid fire streams were served. — North- 
western Tribune, Brainerd, Febricary 9, 1884. 



BRIG-HAM CITY, UTAH. 
A TRIAL TEST. 
The Brigham City Water Works System Proves a Huge Success. 
A Powerful Stream of Water Thrown Clean Over a Six 
Story Building. The Pressure is Found to be Immense. 
The Pipe Used is the National Tube Works Company's Kalamein 
Pipe Fitted with the Converse Patent Lock Joint. 
The water was first turned into the Brigham City Water Works system 
Friday, July 9th. The following Tuesday, a thorough test was given of the 



26 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



pressure and efficiency of the system in case of fire. The result of the test 
exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the advocates, the promoters 
and the constructors of the enterprise. 

Not a leak was found in the entire system of eight miles. The pressure 
was simply heavy and the propelling force great. 

The city council certainly deserve great credit for the unqualified success 
of the project ; and Supt. David James is to be congratulated for the ability 
he has shown in superintending the construction of the system. The laying 
of a system of the extent of this, free from flaws, leakages or breaks is 
something unprecedented. * * * Tuesday noon, Mayor Turner, Chief 
Rhodes, of the Fire Department, and the City Councilmen came up from 
Ogden, by invitation, to oversee the testing of the water works, just com- 
pleted, and were loud in their praises of the entire system which they 
unreservedly approved. * * * With all the lawn sprinklers turned off 
and all the taps closed, the water was turned into the hose and a great 
stream shot high into the air amid great shouts of delight and satisfaction 
from the expectant crowd and the booming of cannon. * * * An inch- 
and-a-quarter nozzle was used first. With this a powerful stream was thrown 
high over sixty-foot buildings. Then both that and an inch nozzle were used 
simultaneously, expelling two large streams some sixty-five to seventy-five 
feet into the air. 

A hearty shout of approbation went up from the assembled throng 
when a forcible stream from the inch nozzle was thrown clear over the 
highest building in town and then over the new Co-Op., which is a three 
story building and about sixty feet wide. For several minutes the stream 
was allowed to play in the air, at least twenty feet above the topmost point 
of the cornice of this high building, when the nozzle was turned to an angle 
of about fifty degrees, and over the stream went, scattering the unsuspecting 
on the opposite side of the building. This trial proved a satisfactory verifi- 
cation of Supt. James' prediction that the force would make this feat possi- 
ble. * * * As usual, people who had hitherto opposed the project, now 
came forward and lustily cheered the promoters of the enterprise, as the 
test entirely dissipated their apprehensions and incredulity. The friends 
and supporters of the enterprise are fast multiplying, to the utter dismay 
and chagrin of the few remaining, straggling oppositionists who we may 
expect to hold out until " Gabriel blows his horn." * * * The water 
works test was a grand success. The tremendous power as a fire ex- 
tinguisher ought to make the people sleep a whole lot easier nights ; let us 
be thankful ; a great burden has been lifted from our minds. — Brigham City 
Bugler, July 16, 1892. 



BRITTON, SOUTH DAKOTA. 

Office of E. A. Cooper, Supt. Water Works, 
BriTTon, So. Dak., October 26th, 1892. 

National Tube IVor/es Co. 

In reply to your several inquiries of 20th inst. , would say that the Con- 
verse Patent Dock Joint Kalamein Pipe which you furnished some time 
since is giving excellent satisfaction. 

The mains are under a pressure of 120 pounds per square inch. 



C. J. K. & A. CORDIALLY RECOMMENDED. 27 



There has never been a break or leak in the entire system. 
The annual cost of repairs is nothing. 
The present condition of the pipe is good. 
The economy of lead and labor in laying is said to be great. 
Our soil is yellow clay and sand. 
The pipe is clean internally. 

It has no effect on the water, and we have no other kind of pipe in use 
in our water works system. 

(Signed) E. A. Cooper. 



BUENA VISTA, COLORADO. 

Mayor's Office, | 

Buena Vista, Col., November 28, 1883. \ 
To whom it may concern. 

The Colorado Machinery Company has just completed the construction 
of the Buena Vista Water Works, and in a very satisfactory and workman- 
like manner, and from the character of their work and straightforward 
manner of dealing, we take pleasure in stating that we consider the com- 
pany thoroughly reliable and entirely competent. We, therefore, cordially 
recommend them to any town needing similar work. 

(Signed) G. W. Alden, Mayor. 

K. F. Hanly, Clerk. 
F. J. Campbell, ) Members 
W. S. Spencer, \ of 

E- R. Emerson, ) Council. 
John O'Connor, City Engineer. 



THE WATER WORKS ACCEPTED. 

East Monday the town authorities, after testing the various hydrants 
and inspecting the reservoir, dam and other parts of the works, formally 
accepted them from the contractors, the Colorado Machinery Co., through 
their agent, D. H. Harris. 

The town of Buena Vista is to be congratulated on securing so faithful 
a performance of the contract, and also upon having so liberal and enter- 
prising people to deal with as the Colorado Machinery Company of Denver, 
and the National Tube Works of Chicago, whose wrought iron pipe was used. 

This company has put in water works at Fairplay, Durango, and several 
other points in the state, in every instance giving entire satisfaction. 

The Buena Vista system consists of a dam and reservoir in Cottonwood 
Creek, at a point about two miles above town, the total fall being 165 feet. 
The reservoir holds 10,000 gallons of water, the pipes 35,000, and the water 
collected behind the dam for a distance of 200 feet above the reservoir, is 
about 175,000 gallons. The pipe, which is wrought iron, is ten inches in 
diameter for the first 1,000 feet ; eight inches for 10,260 feet, six inches for 
2,770 feet, and there are 670 feet of four-inch pipe. 



28 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



This gives a uniform pressure of about seventy pounds to the square 
inch, and tests through ioo teet of two and a half inch hose with a three- 
quarter nozzle, threw a stream over eighty feet perpendicularly, and about 
200 feet horizontally. Approximate estimates show that the quantity of 
water discharged is sufficient to give 150 gallons per day per capita for a 
city of 5,000 inhabitants. As Buena Vesta can only claim about 2,500, it 
will be readily seen that we shall not suffer from drouth for some years yet. 

The total cost of the water works has been, not including an extra 
contract amounting to about $1, 500 on Railroad Street, $27,100. Bonds of 
the town to the amount of $30,000 were voted something over a year ago, 
and were negotiated by Lamb and Carey, of the National Tube Works and 
Colorado Machinery Company, respectively in New York, at ninety-three 
cents, cash. Work was begun on the 25th of June, and after encountering 
many unexpected obstacles, in the way of water from the irrigating ditches, 
and immense boulders in the trenches, requiring much blasting, the original 
contract was completed in full aud turned over last Monday. 

Competent judges say that the water works cost fully $5,000 less than 
the same work could be done for again. We advise all towns desiring 
water works to consult the Colorado Machinery Company of Denver and 
the National Tube Works of Chicago. — Buena Vista Times. 



Buena Vista, Coi,., March 12, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter inquiring how the Bueua Vista Water Works pipe system 
is working, was received. The system gives good, entire and complete 
satisfaction. No one has yet been able to find a single fault with it ; there 
was no break at any place of any kind of the material used. There were a 
few insignificant leaks, occurring soon after the works were completed, 
which were repaired by the Construction Company, and did not cost more 
than $25, due to carelessness in workmanship. The cost of repairing 
leaks and breaks is (to the town) 0000 ! The total cost of maintaining the 
system is the same, as the town marshal merely "looks after it." One 
man, twelve days in one year, could do all the work required to maintain it. 

Will be glad if you send me your catalogue, or anything describing 
your different kinds of materials which you supply, their cost, etc., as I am 
often asked questions about water works. 

If a railroad is built to Aspen (this State), this year there will be water 
works constructed there at once, and I can with confidence recommend the 
National Tube Works Company's Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe. 

The results of the system here far exceed the expectations of those who 
were most hopeful, and contradicts and disappoints those who " knew it " 
and were opposed to its introduction. 

There were four fires here, any one of which would have completely 
destroyed the town had not the water works been available — a fire can gain 
no headway after the moment water from these pipes touches it. 

A great advantage, and principal to be observed, is the uninterrupted 
and "smooth flow." 

(Signed) John O'Connor, City Engineer. 



CAST IRON PIPE DESTROYED IN TWO AND A HALF YEARS. 29 

BuENA VlSTA, Coe., January 5th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The material furnished by your company in 1883 has never shown the 
smallest defect as yet, consequently we can form an opinion of its present 
condition through tappiug for service pipes only. Having personally 
tapped some of the first, and all of the last, will say, I cannot detect any 
loss of metal or evidence of decay. Our pressure is 60 to 70 lbs. per square 
inch. 

(Signed) E. M. KembeE, Supt. Water Works. 



BUFFALO, WYOMING. 

Office of the Buffalo Miee Company, \ 

Buffalo, Wyo., Nov. 12th, 1892. \ 

National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to yours of Oct. 19th, 1892, in regard to the Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, would say : 

It is carrying 60 lbs. pressure constantly, and in case of fire and on 
other occasions it is carrying from no to 140 lbs. 

The pipe has been in use 3^ years. 

There has been but two leaky joints. 

Annual cost of repairs is too slight to mention. 

Present condition of pipe, good. 

Character of soil, alkali. 

Internal condition of the pipe, Number 1. 

No effect on the water. 

In comparison with cast iron pipe, would say that there is no compari- 
son, as we had some cost iron pipe laid at the same time zve laid the Kala- 
mein pipe and the cast pipe zuas completely destroyed by the zuater in 2 1-2 
years. 

(Signed) E. H. Smock, Manager. 



BUTTE, MONTANA. 

Office of the Butte City Water Company, } 
Butte, Montana, Jan, 31st, 1892. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

According to promise I will let you know how I am getting along here 
with pipe laying for the new water-works. 

I reached Butte Nov. 2d, and on the following day commenced work, 
taking charge of pipe laying. Up to December 1st, I laid something over 
two miles of your Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Water Pipe, and 
then the ground froze up so that opening trenches became impracticable. 
All the pipe we laid was put in at the lower end of the city, and it has been a 
good test in every way to your pipe as well as to myself. Most of the pipe 
line is under a steady pressure of 180 pounds to the square inch, and, about 
twice a week (when they fill the " upper tank ") the pressure runs as high 
as 220 pounds per square inch, and we have not had a leak or break in the 
pipe lines. That you may know how great the pressure in reality was, I will 



30 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



tell you what fun we had with an eight-inch Gate Valve, which blew off 
three times in succession. The valves were left on the end of a line which 
is to be continued next spring. The valve stayed on the pipe all right for 
about six weeks, when they commenced to pump water into the " upper 
tank," and the pressure went up to over 250 pounds per square inch, when 
the valve blew off. I put the valve on the pipe again and braced the valve 
with an 8 x 8 stick of timber, when it stayed on one week before it blew off 
again ; I replaced the valve the second time and put a length of pipe beyond 
the valve ; the third time the valve blew off I replaced it and put another 
piece of pipe behind it, and now I think it will stay all right for it has stood 
the high pressure (over 250 lbs.) four times. I like to lay your Converse 
Joint Kalamein Pipe ; it is easy work when compared with the other water 
pipe, and when a joint is once made the contractor does not have to take his 
job to bed with him every night. 

(Signed) Rudolph Probst. 



Butte City Water Company, 1 
Butte, Montana, July 28th, 1892. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of 13th, will say that we have had occasion to 
take up some of the Converse Joint Kalamein Pipe which we purchased of 
you, and which was laid from four (4) to five (5) years ago. We took it up 
to relay in connection with our new water works system. We found this 
pipe in excellent condition in every way, with no appearance of rust or 
corrosion on the inside, and the coating is as good as new on the outside. 
I have never seen any kind of pipe show up better than this. 

(Signed) Eugene Carroi^i,, Supt. 



Improvements to the Works of the Butte City Water Co. 
By J. H. Harper, C. E. 

The Butte City Water Co. purchased the plant and good will of the old 
Silver Bow Water Co., together with the franchise and estate of the old 
Silver Bow Hydraulic Mining Co., something more than a year ago. The 
plans of the purchaser contemplated that an entirely new system of distri- 
bution should be placed upon the old plant, which rendered it possible to 
utilize about nine miles of pipe from the old system. 

The following is a statement of the size and number of feet of Kala- 
meined iron pipe, jointed with lead and calked in the usual manner, that 
has been laid during the past season : 

4-inch 5,ooo feet. 16-iuch 1,600 feet. 



5-inch 800 

6-inch 58,500 

8-inch 16,000 

10-inch 14,000 

12-inch 12,500 



18-inch 1,700 " 

20-inch 15,000 " 

Total 125,100 feet. 



In laying the above amount of pipe the company has set 296 two-nozzle 
and 36 three-nozzle fire hydrants. 



KALAMEIN PIPE PREFERRED. 31 



One 20-inch pipe has been entirely used from the point where the line 
descends to cross the valley of Silver Bow Creek, where a maximum 
pressure of 450 feet with the reservoir empty is attained. * * * All 
work here has been done under the supervision of Mr. Eugene Carroll, and 
to his courtesy I am indebted for much of the information given. — Engi- 
neering News, January 5, 'pj. 



CHADEON, NEBRASKA. 

Chadron, Neb., Nov. 19, 1S91. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 16th inst., would say that the contract for our 
extensions was let in a lump to Mr. E. A. Rudiger. No, there was no 
objection to the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, neither could there 
be any, for that which we have had in use in the water works system for 
several years has given the very best satisfaction. We could only raise 
$ 20,000 with which to do all the work this season, and you are perhaps 
aware that all bids received at the first letting were rejected, because the 
totals exceeded our appropriation. We like your Kalamein pipe, and would 
have given it the preference, even at greater prices than for cast-iron pipe, 
if the whole work could have been done within the appropriation. 

The appropriation was twenty thousand dollars, and Rudiger's bid (with 
cast-iron pipe) was twenty thousand dollars. We could not raise any more 
money, so had to let him have the contract as stated. 

(Signed) J. Kass. 



CHAMBERLAIN, DAKOTA. 

Chamberlain, D. T., March 5, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of February 20th received, and contents carefully noted. What 
leakage we had during the past year was uncalled for, as our pipe was 
poorly laid — the plumber did not understand his business. If the pipe had 
been properly laid there would not have been a dollar's worth of repairing 
during the past year. There are few water works that have the pressure on 
the pipe that our works have, as our reservoir is over 200 feet above the 
pumps. We have finally completed our works as they should have been 
laid in the first place, and there are no faults existing. All the trouble we 
have had was in not securing the proper engineer in the start, as the Council 
knew nothing of putting in works. 

(Signed) R. Sturgeon, Mayor. 



Chamberlain, Dakota, Dec. 31st, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your letter of recent date, I beg leave to say that our mains 
are still in good condition, and, as far as I can ascertain, they are giving good 
satisfaction. The hydrants are not giving as good satisfaction as might be 
desired, as two of them (there are fourteen of them in use) are not in good 



32 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



working order, and have bothered us for a long time by leaking. The other 
12 hydrants are thus far in good condition. 

(Signed) C. C. Morrow, 

Supt. Chamberlain Dak. Water Works. 



CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA. 

Charleston, Kanawha Co., W. Va. , Sept. 4, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Water was turned into the lower half of the city, that is, from Capitol 
Street to Elk River, the 27th of August, and into the upper part of the city 
the 28th of August. Everything bears success upon its face. There were 
but few leaks, and they were of a very insignificant nature. 

On Monday they concluded to have the test of fire streams. Just think 
of it, water turned in on the 27th and test on the 30th ! I had planned for 
an air cushion over each bibb in each house, so that we would have through- 
out the system a large amount of elasticity — water, you know, cannot be 
compressed. Also, a large air cushion at the works, 14x20. No services 
were turned on, consequently we had no elasticity down town, and the large 
cushion was full of water (leaked at the top) so we had no protection what- 
ever. We bursted all the new nozzles (four), so the test is ended until they 
get some new nozzles to try it over again. None of the nozzles had handles 
on, so they could not hold them and had all kinds of accidents — broke plate 
glass, flooded stores, men got knocked around, ladies got wet. Oh ! it was 
a regular picnic ! You see it is a wonder we did not blow up the whole pipe 
system. But she stood it, and we only broke one tee, which was imperfect, 
in the pump house. 

We threw one stream, with hose leaking at the joints, through one of 
their old brass, battered-up nozzles, over the top of a flag-staff on the corner 
of the Capitol building, next to my house. I think it is 160 feet high. 

The works are probably as good as the best in the United States. We 
only got 185 pounds on when the tee in the pump house bursted — it was im- 
perfect. As soon as we get the new one we will test to 200 pounds. 

(Signed) E. R. Davenport, Engineer. 



Charleston, Kanawha Co., W. Va., Sept. 21, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have just completed a very satisfactory system of water works here, 
in this capital city of West Virginia. 

Ten and four-fifths (10 4-5) miles of mains were laid, of your Kalamein 
pipe, with the Converse Patent Lock Joint, and upon the completed system 
we have had a pressure of two hundred (200) pounds per square inch, with- 
out detriment to any part of the plant. Your claims of superiority of your 
Kalamein pipe over all other makes are well founded ; can be laid cheaper, 
takes less lead, no yarn, cracked and imperfect pipes are avoided, and, after 
water is turned in, you can rest assured that the power at the pump house is 
not sufficient to burst it. 



C. J. K. & A. SUPPLEMENTING CAST IRON. 33 

I have laid Kalamein pipes in soil strongly impregnated with alkali (in 
Dakota Territory), and, from personal observations, find that water delivered 
through them is pure, and the pipes will last longer under such adverse con- 
ditions than any other make or kind of pipe. 

(Signed) E. R. Davenport, 

Water Works Builder. 

CHEBOYGAN", MICHIGAN. 

Cheboygan, Mich., Dec. 31st, 1S88. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your favor of the 27th inst., would say that the pipe fur- 
nished by your firm in 18S5, for our water works system has so far been sat- 
isfactory, and from present indications it appears to be as good as when laid. 
(Signed) J. W. McDonald, Chairman, 

Board Water Com'rs. 

CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Chicopee, Mass., June 4th, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of the 31st ult., at hand, and in reply would say that we have 
about 1,500 feet of 3, 4 and 6-inch laid and being laid, of the Converse Pat- 
ent Dock Joint Kalamein Wrought Iron Pipe. It has not been down but a 
few weeks and can say nothing as to its durability in this soil. I have 
looked into the matter very carefully and consider it the best pipe in the 
market, and will gladly say so to any one you may refer to nie. 

(Signed) A. H. Rowland, Engineer, 

Chicopee Water Co. 

Chicopee, Mass., May 23, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Enclosed find sketch of 3-inch Converse Joint Pipe and fittings, which 
you will please make and send as soon as possible. 

The pipe we had of you last year is very satisfactory, and would like to 
have as low a price on this as you gave before, as we are adopting your pipe 
in place of cast-iron. 

(Signed) Dwight Manufacturing Co., 

J. W. Cumnock, Agt. 

CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO. 

The following extract from Engineer John E. Earley's report 
to the Governor of Chihuahua on the projected water works for 
the City of Chihuahua will probably be of interest to you : 

CLASS OF PIPE RECOMMENDED. 
After careful consideration and comparison of the various kinds of pipe 
found in the market, I have decided to recommend a superior quality of 
wrought-iron pipe, known as the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, man- 
ufactured by the National Tube Works Company of McKeesport, Pa. This 
pipe is made from an excellent quality of tough, fibrous iron, and is pro- 
tected from corrosion by salts (which may be carried in solution in the 
water or contained in the surrounding soil), by having incorporated in the 
surface of the pipe a non-corrosive metal alloy, composed largely of tin. 



34 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The surface thus formed is extremely smooth, offering the minimum fac- 
tional resistance to flow, and has been shown by experience to be exception- 
ally proof against tuberculous incrustation. 

Every joint is tested at the factory by hydraulic press for a bursting 
pressure of 500 pounds per squre inch, and, being of wrought-iron and not 
liable to fractures from handling, it can be relied upon to contain no hidden 
defects (such as are common with cast-iron pipe) to be discovered after the 
pipe is laid and the water turned on. In one case in Mexico, which has 
recently come under my observation, where cast-iron pipes were employed, 
six per cent, of the total number of pipes were broken in transit, and, of the 
pipes that were laid, an additional five per cent., or one out of every twenty, 
failed under the pressure of the water, entailing great confusion and expense 
in replacing them. 

The alkalies in most soils in Mexico will attack and soon destroy the 
ordinary wrought-iron pipe ; while, with the Kalamein pipe, the tin alloy 
effectually prevents this action — a matter of great importance when dealing 
with waters and soils containing more or less alkali, as is the case in Chi- 
huahua. 

One of the most common causes of failure in water systems where cast- 
iron pipe is employed is the clogging of the pipes by tuberculous deposits 
forming on the inside, thereby reducing the diameter and increasing the 
co- efficient of friction. Although in pipes of large size, this reduction of 
diameter by accretions is of proportionately small value, yet in the case of 
the smaller sizes of pipes where the same thickness of incrustation occupies 
so much greater comparative area, the evil becomes of serious importance, 
wrought iron pipe generally is comparatively free from danger from this 
source, and the Kalamein pipe has been proven to be particularly exempt. 
It has been in consideration of this property of the Kalamein pipe that I 
have felt justified in recommending the use of pipes as small as four-inch 
for the distributing system. 

On account of the superior class of material used in the manufacture ol 
this pipe, and the improved design of joints and specials, the weights per 
lineal foot of the Kalamein pipe are very considerably less than for other 
classes. The following gives comparisons of the weights per foot of the 
various sizes of Kalamein, ordinary- wrought and cast-iron pipe. These 
weights include the weight of complete joints : 

TABTE II. 

SHOWING WEIGHTS PER FOOT OF VARIOUS SIZES. 







Weights in Pounds. 




Diameter in 








Inches. 










Kalamein. 


Wrought-iron. 


Cast-iron. 


4 


5.00 


IO.66 


18.13 


5 


7-15 


14.50 


21-53 


6 


8.60 


18.76 


32.82 


8 


I2.8o 


28.18 


45-51 


10 


16.60 


40.06 


70.06 


12 


24.50 


49.OO 


83.24 


14 


30.00 


58.OO 


116. 61 



COMPARISON FAVORABLE TO C. J. K. &. A. 



35 



The comparative weights of the total bill of pipes of various sizes re- 
quired for the Chihuahua system (34,940 lineal feet, or 10,650 metres) is 
shown by 

TABLE III. 

SHOWING TOTAL WEIGHT OF PIPE REQUIRED. 



Class of Pipe. 


Weights 


Pounds. 


Tons. 


Kalamein, ....... 

Ordinary Wrought, .... 

Cast-Iron, 


376,071 

755-874 
1,356,290 


167.9 
334-4 
6055 



It is evident from the above table that for the total length required, 
the weight of the Kalamein pipe would be but about one-half that of ordin- 
ary wrought iron and less than one-third that of cast-iron pipe. 

The price of this pipe per foot at the factory exceeds that of ordinary 
grades of wrought or cast-iron pipe ; but, in the present case, where the 
cost of transportation for the long haul from the factory to the site form 
such a large proportion of the total cost, the superior lightness of this pipe 
so reduces the transport charges as to enable it to compete in the matter of 
cost. Calculations based on the most recent quotation have proven that the 
Kalamein pipe can be delivered in Chihuahua for a sum but slightly in ex- 
cess of the cost of the ordinary grade of wrought-iron pipe, and on account 
of its several advantages and its peculiar adaptation for the work under con- 
sideration I recommend its adoption. 



CLEBURNE, TEXAS. 

Mr. A. M. Wheless, the Superintendent of the Dallas Water Works, was 
a -guest at the Cleburne House one day this week. The object of Mr. 
Wheless' visit to Cleburne was to investigate the Texas Water and Gas 
Company's Water Works. He expressed himself as well pleased. He says 
the system here is far superior to the works at Dallas. He was especially 
well pleased with the material of which the pipes are made — wrought iron. 
The pipes are made by the Kalamein process, a newly discovered compound 
metal, which, when applied to iron or steel, gives it an appearance similar 
to galvanizing, and at the same time renders it thoroughly non-corrosive 
and impervious to acid, moisture or atmospheric influences. The great 
difficulty with which galvanizers have to contend is the deteriorating effect 
of the molten zinc upon iron. To use an old galvanizer's phrase, it appears 
to " burn the very life out of it." The action of Kalamein is directly the 
reverse. It is said to soften and toughen the metal to which it is applied, 
and will unite with planished steel as readily as with the ordinary grades of 
iron. Another remarkable property of the metal is that it will withstand 
the effects of fire. Iron coated with it can be heated nearly red hot without 
injury to the coating. — Cleburne (Texas) Chronicle, March 28, 1884. 



36 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



TIDE WATER PIPE LINE. 

This pipe line company, which is the great rival of the 
United Pipe lines, in transporting oil from the oil regions to the 
sea-board, has a trunk line of 6-inch lap-welded wrought iron 
pipe, mostly furnished by our company, running from the oil 
country to the sea-board, about 250 miles in length. 

This line has been in constant use for a number of years, 
and has given perfect satisfaction. 

We have the original of the following telegram in our pos- 
session : 

CoudersporT, Pa., May 30th, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have practically demonstrated the success of the Tide Water line by 
pumping three hundred barrels per hour, and only one joint leaking in 
twenty-five miles of " National " pipe. 

(Signed) J. Salter field. 



COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE. 

We supplied Captain Travers Daniel, the contractor, with 
Converse Lock Joint Pipe for the system of the Columbia Water 
Company. 

After the works had been in operation about thirteen months 
the company voluntarily wrote us: 

" The pipe, so far, is first-class in every particular, and we have never 
had but one burst, which was about eighteen inches of six-inch pipe which 
had been imperfectly welded. There has been laid here over four miles of 
your pipe, in sizes from twelve to four inches, and not a scrap has been lost 
or left over. This could not be said of any cast iron job." 

On February 13, 1885, the company wrote us: 

" Your Kalamein pipe in use here under pressure from 132 pounds to 85 
pounds per square inch, gives perfect satisfaction and looks as bright in the 
grouud as when put there over a year ago." 



Columbia, Tenn., February 25, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your favor making inquiry in regard to the cost of mainte- 
nance of wrought iron pipe, of which this water system is composed, we 
have had no break or rupture of any kind in this pipe (four and one-half 
miles), which has now been laid and in operation for fifteen months, under 
an average pressure of eighty-five pounds per square inch ; in some places 
132 pounds per square inch, but nowhere, except near the reservoir, less 
than seventy-five pounds per square inch. It is a remarkable showing for 
the first year of a water works under such extraordinary pressures. The 
Kalamein coating of these pipes seems to be a perfect protection against 



WROUGHT IRON 4000 YEARS OLD. 37 



rust. When we dig them up to make a tap, we invariably find them as 
bright and fresh looking as when first put in, and they give us perfect satis- 
faction. These pipes, when well laid and calked, will not cost a cent for 
maintenance, which is not the case with cast iron ; your pipe won't break, 
or rust, or form tubercles, and I don't see but what it will last as long, or 
longer than cast iron pipe. For durability, cheapness of transportation, 
great tensile strength, with no risk from breakage of transportation or 
heavy pressure, I should prefer them to any other pipes. 

(Signed) Travers Daniel, C. E. 



Columbia, Tenn., December 23d, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In our correspondence some months ago in regard to tubercles in cast- 
iron pipes, I referred to the trouble some years ago at Jersey City. In over- 
hauling some old papers last night I found the article alluded to, which I in- 
close, with the hope it may contribute something toward effective argument 
in favor of Kalamein pipe. 

I have never had any trouble with our Kalamein pipes here, of which 
the Columbia pipe system is completely composed. In making taps we find 
the pipes as bright as when put in the ground in the spring of 1883. 

(Signed) Travers Daniel. 



ANCIENT RECORDS. 
Iron used by the Ancients Still in Good Condition. 
At the morning session of the annual meeting of the Ameri- 
can Institute of Architects, held in New York, October 16th, 
1894, Mr. W. L. B. Jenney, of Chicago, said he had seen steel in 
Rome 500 years old which showed no effect of rust, and that a 
bar of iron taken from the obelisk now in Central Park was 
found to be in good condition. 



Wrought Iron 4,000 Years Old. 

There is in the British Museum a piece of wrought-iron 
which is four thousand years old. It is a roughly fashioned 
sickle blade found by Belzona in Karnac, near Thebes. It was 
imbedded in the mortar under the base of a sphinx, and on that 
account it is known as the " Sickle of the Sphinx." It is in 
excellent state of preservation. 

As our cast-iron friends often ask for records, this authentic 
reference may be of possible interest under certain circumstances. 



38 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



J. P. STREET. W. C. JONES, T. JONES, 

President- GenEral .Manager. Sec'y^'Treas. 

Cdlumbis Cottoq Mill Co., 
ShEEtings, $ Drillings, # SsamlEss # Bags, 



jrf sy'sZ-Z yp-cyfr^ ^^^ tZSsz* £?^Sh- ^^^ , 









A GOOD, SERVICEABLE PIPE. 39 
















[Reprint.] 

We want from 5 to 800 ft. i8 // Kalamein pipe — the thickest kind. Can 
you furnish it and at what price per ton or foot and how soon ? 

We once bought quite a lot of gas pipe from you and our Water Works 
at the start were commenced with Kalamein pipe, and most of it is as good 
to-day as when put in 10 years ago. Would prefer it flanged, but price both 
the flanged and that put together with lead. 

Yours very truly, 
( Composed of Water Columbia Improvement Co., 

Gas & Electricity. ) By C. T. JONES, Prest. 

You will find our names 011 your books in 1890. 

P. S. — We want to extend our supply pipe higher up the river and want 
a good serviceable pipe that would answer, and this having done so well in 
the ground supposed it would answer in the water. Give us all information 
necessary and also state weight per foot. 

Yours truly, 

C. T. Jones, Prest. 

COLUMBUS, TEXAS. 

Coeumbus, Tex., June 19, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of June 4th at hand. In reply will state that I have had in charge 
all work and repairs of the Columbus Water Works since they were com- 



40 FACTS ABOUT PiPE. 



pleted in 1883; have made a great many taps and have had the pipe exposed 
in many places and can see no change of same since it was first laid in the 
trench; it looks as good as new. There has not been a single leak in joints 
and we have had as much as 175 lbs. pressure. 

(Signed) Jacob J. Dick, 

City Water Works Engineer. 



DEEE LODGE, MONTANA. 

Office of Defr Lodge Water Company, ) 
Deer Lodge, Mont., Nov. 6th, 1892. <j 

National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of October 20th, will say, all our water mains are laid 
with your Converse Joint Kalamein Pipe, sizes 2 to 10 inch ; average pres- 
sure, 60 lbs. 

No breaks, but an occasional leak from not having been properly 
calked. 

The cost of repairs is little or nothing. 

Pipe that was laid seven years since is now in perfect condition. 

Economy in lead is about fifty per cent. 

The soil is gravel, sand and loam. 

Pipe is clean and bright internally. 

Does not affect the water in the least. 

We have a foot of 4-inch pipe that was laid seven years ago that we can 
send you if you wish. 

(Signed) DEER Lodge Water Company, 

Frank S. Dewey, Supt. 



DENVER, COLORADO. 

Denver, Cod., August 1, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We take great pleasure in mentioning the satisfaction received by us in 
using your Special Lap-Welded Wrought Iron Pipe, with Converse Patent 
Joint. 

Being in the business of water works contractors we have made it a rule 
to use only the best of materials in our work, and it is only after careful ex- 
aminations and tests that we have concluded to hereafter recommend and 
vise the same in our construction of works. 

We completed the work at Fairplay, Col., about six months ago, and at 
no time has there been a leaky joint. We find we can put it in the ground 
about five times as rapidly as cast-iron pipe and with about one-third the 
amount of lead. 

The ditches can also be made very much narrower at the bottom, 
thereby saving the contractors considerable digging. 

We especially recommend the Converse Joint as being the tightest under 
heavy pressure of any we have seen. 

Regarding the life of the pipe, would say that we have seen tests made 
between the wrought pipe, coated with your patent preparation, and cast- 



THE DULUTH CASE. 41 



iron pipe, and believe that if your pipe is properly laid in the ground, will 
last as long if not longer than any cast-iron pipe made. 

We are now putting water works in two other towns in this State, and 
will let you hear just how your pipe works there, as we believe you wish to 
know any defect, if there be any ; yet so far, we are pleased to say we have 
no fault whatever to find. 

(Signed) Colorado Machinery Company, 

Per John S. Cary, V. P. 



DULUTH, MINNESOTA. 



We furnished over forty miles of Converse J'oint Kalamein 
pipe for the water works and the gas works at Duluth, Minne- 
sota, during the months of June, July, August, September and 
October, 1883. The engineer in charge was Carroll E. Gray. 

The engineering ability employed in this dual enterprise was 
not up to standard, and a great many blunders were made in 
the pipe laying, which was the cause of some of the pipe being 
taken up, removed and replaced afterwards. The simple fact of 
the least part of the Converse Joint pipe being removed, for any 
cause whatever, was sufficient to set the tongues of the cast-iron 
and wrought-iron-stove pipe (spiral-welded and rivetted) fra- 
ternities vigorously wagging, and all kinds of extravagant wild- 
cat stories were noised about concerning these circumstances. 
The truth of the matter was not once touched upon, but the 
mere circumstance of the removal of any of this pipe from its 
original position was sufficient seasoning for a pack of falsehoods, 
which were easily explained away when we had the opportunity 
of doing so. 

Contrary to shunning any investigation of the matter, we 
sought it, and now look upon the history of the Duluth Gas 
and Water Works as a great endorsement of the general 
efficiency of this specialty of ours. We can ask for no better 
nor more favorable advertisement than to have the Duluth mat- 
ters thoroughly ventilated and explained. 

As you may run across stories concerning these operations, 
we deem it prudent to introduce the subject with these other 
matters, that you may understand the facts, should occasion 
require their explanation. We can do this most briefly by 
reproducing a letter written to the author by Mr. F. H. 
Lamb, of our Chicago branch house. A representative of 
the spiral-weld stove-pipe manufacturers, while talking "Duluth" 



42 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



on the Pacific Coast, dropped into the office of one of our 
friends, who took occasion to inquire the truth of us. 

In order that none of the facts, even of the most trivial 
nature, should escape notice, the author wrote our Chicago 
branch house for a plain statement of the condition of affairs in 
their entirety, and we will dispose of the subject by reproducing 
Mr. Lamb's report: 

Chicago, Iu,., October 28th, 1890. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., General Manager N. T. W. Co., New York. 

Dear Sir : — In re Duluth, and replying to your letter of October 
22nd : It is true that a certain portion of the pipe used in the original 
construction of the water works at this place was taken up. It was abso- 
lutely through no fault of the pipe, however ; the trouble was caused 
wholly by defective engineering. 

Duluth is founded on a rock. It is also built on the side of a very steep 
hill. The weather is extreme there and the pipe was laid in a trench 9 feet 
deep. 

The pipe was laid the first year that we introduced Kalamein Converse 
Joint Pipe. Gray, the engineer, was very enthusiastic over it and evidently 
expected that he could perform impossibilities with it. We did not discover 
this until too late. 

It seems that in making his trench he was obliged to blast out to a large 
degree, and he had so much faith in Kalamein pipe that he did not suppose 
it required any bed for it to lay upon, excepting in spots. It is a fact, that 
in many places, not wishing to go to the expense to blast out the trench 
smooth, he strung the pipe along from boulder to boulder, and then threw 
nine feet of rock on top of it. 

Worse than this, he at the same time laid a line of gas pipe, and instead 
of putting it at the bottom of the ditch, alongside of the water pipe, he put 
it in the same trench, four feet above the water pipe and five feet from the 
surface. He threw in loose rock over the water pipe and under the gas pipe, 
and laid wooden stringers for the latter to rest upon. 

The water on the side hill, not having any chance to sink into the rock 
soil, used the trenches as a sluice-way, and washed down the stone under- 
neath the gas pipe. The frost followed it, and everything was frozen hard. 
The result was very much like a boy taking a large stick of candy and 
breaking it over his knee. 

Gray, himself, stated at the time that he would never have dreamed of 
using cast-iron pipe in this way, and admitted that the record made for the 
pipe at Duluth was wholly his fault. 

The works afterwards passed into the hands of a Chicago syndicate, one 
of whom was Mr. C. E. Judson, the well-known President of the Consumers 
Gas Company in this city, one of the best civil and hydraulic engineers in 
the country. This gentleman stated to the writer on several occasions that 
the fault was wholly with the manner in which the pipe was laid and not with 
the pipe itself. The following letter which he wrote to the Geneseo, 111., 
officials, also indicates his opinion of the Converse Joint Pipe and the way it 
was used at Duluth : 



TUBERCLES UNKNOWN IN KALAMEIN PIPE. 43 



Office of the ) 

Consumers Gas, Fuee and Light Company, v 

Chicago, Iee., July 5th, 1885. ) 

Mr. R. Harrington, Geneseo, III. 

In reply to your request for my opinion of the Kalamein pipe manu- 
factured by the National Tube Works Company, as a conveyor of water, 
I would say that in the Duluth Gas and Water Company's works, of 
which I am President and principal owner, we have fifteen miles or more of 
it laid and it has given u ; good satisfaction. 

The works were badly constructed at the start, and we have had a good 
deal of trouble, but the pipe itself is not at all responsible for this. 

If the pipe is laid in level trenches and lead joints carefully made, I 
think it will give less trouble and out-last cast-iron pipe of like diameter. 
It has the advantage, through the peculiar coating used, of being non-cor- 
rosive, or, in other words, it is not affected by the ordinary acids of the earth 
or of the water. 

The tubercular formations often found in cast-iron pipe which has been 
used to convey water, and which often fill up the entire interior diameter of 
the pipe, will be unknown with the Kalamein pipe. 

I think I can say nothing further in support of the general commenda- 
tions of the pipe, so far as my experience has been with it in the laboratory 
and short use during two years in two different works with which I am con- 
nected. 

(Signed) C. E. Judson, 

President and Engineer. 



At that time we were not manufacturing sizes larger than 16-inch. The 
contract called for 18-inch inlet from the lake ; it was laid with cast-iron, 
and every piece of this had to come up also. 

All of the pipe taken up at Duluth was again put in use at West 
Superior and Bozemau ; this fact also proves that there was nothing the 
matter with the pipe. 

Although for years, for want of a better opportunity, our cast-iron pipe 
friends have rung the changes on Duluth, yet, as a matter of fact, Duluth is 
in reality one of the strongest recommendations for Kalamein pipe in exist- 
ence. 

If cast-iron had been laid in a similar manner, there would have been 
nothing left but a hole in the ground and some bits of broken iron. There 
would probably have been not a particle of salvage in taking the pipe up. 
How " under-the-sun " Kalamein pipe withstood such usage as this, and 
actually was in use one or more seasons, is inconceivable. 

We do not hear very much about Duluth in this part of the country 
now-a-days, for the reason that we have made it a boomerang for the cast- 
iron fraternity altogether too often. They are very quiet relative to this 
point of late years. 

We never paid one cent of damages, nor did we ever make a single 
allowance on account of defective pipe at Duluth. This fact speaks for itself. 

National Tube Works Company, 
(Signed) F. H. Lamb. 



44 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



EL PASO DE ROBLES, CALIFORNIA. 

Ee Paso de Robins, Cai,., Oct. 21st, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 14th inst., will say the Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Kalamein Pipe which you furnished us some time ago is giving entire satis- 
faction. The amount of pressure carried is 60 to 80 pounds. We have never 
had any breaks or leaks. Annual cost of repairs, none yet. Present condi- 
tion of the pipe is good. The character of the soil in which the pipe is laid 
is black loam. Its internal condition with reference to cleanliness, is per- 
fect as could be, and it has no effect whatever on the water passing through it. 
(Signed) J. W. Garrin, Manager. 



EUREKA, NEVADA. 

Eureka, Nev., December 26th, 18S9. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are much pleased with the Converse Lock Joint Pipe bought of you 
last fall. I made a curve with it that I could not have made with any other 
pipe that I have handled for the last seventeen years. I have used most all 
kinds of joints, but I like the Converse Joints better than any other I have 
used. 

(Signed) GEO. F. BEISS, 

Supt. Eureka Water Works. 



EVANSTON, WYOMING. 



Councie Chamber, \ 

Evanston, Wyo., Oct. 29th, 1892. I 
National Tube Works Co. 

Answering yours of 14th inst., we have only had the Kalamein Converse 
Lock Joint Pipe in use four years and it has given entire satisfaction. No 
breaks and no leaks except at joints that have not been properly made. We 
are carrying eighty pounds pressure. We find it to be in first-class condition 
after laying four years. Sandy soil. It has no effect on the water passing 
through it. It is good pipe. 

(Signed) A. W. BuTEER, Water Master. 



FENTON, MICHIGAN. 

FenTon, Mich., October 24th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of 20th, to Supt. of Water Works has been handed to me to 
answer. In reply will say : 

Pressure, 70 to 1 10 pounds. 

Breaks, none. 

Annual coast of repairs, nothing to date. 

Present condition of pipe, good. 

Economy of lead and labor, 15 per cent. 



GOOD AS NEW AFTER NINE YEARS' SERVICE. 45 



Character of soil, clay, sand, gravel. 

Internal condition, I think the asphalt coating was poorly done. 

Effect, if any, on the water, the coating is not hard in the dead ends, 
and there is no place to clean the pipes. 

Comparison with cast iron, very good. 

Trusting the above answers your questions, and hoping you will not 
think we are hard on you as we have answered exactly as it is heir, we re- 
main. 

(Signed) M. Walker. 

FERGUS FALLS, MINNESOTA. 

Office of Fergus Falls Water Co., | 
Fergus Falls, Minn., Oct. 28th, 1892. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of inquiry in regard to Kalamein pipe at hand. In reply 
will say that our system has been in now nine years, and the pipe has given 
the best of satisfaction. We have had some joints leak, caused by the poor 
work in calking, but the pipe itself is as good as the day it was put in. 
The pipe has been personally examined by me in nearly every case where 
it has been necessary, for the purpose of making taps or repairing, and I 
have always found it bright and in good condition. We carry 60 pounds 
domestic, and over 100 pounds in case of fire. We have given the pipe the 
most severe tests, as we have had no pressure on it for over fourteen hours 
on a stretch on a fire, and have failed to start a leak anywhere. Our soil is 
a combination of clay and alkali, which is very hard on any pipe, and we 
find that it stands the test more than well. We find it very clean, and have 
no trouble with it. We have about a mile of cast-iron pipe in the system, 
and find that the water becomes colored by standing in the cast pipe, but 
no such trouble exists with the Kalamein pipe. The cost of laying Kala- 
mein pipe is very much less than cast iron pipe, taking much less lead and 
less labor in lowering it into the trench, &c, &c. We are much pleased 
with your Kalamein pipe, and can recommend it very highly. 

These few questions have been no trouble, and we will be glad to give 
any information at any time that you may require. 

(Signed) E. N. LiTTlejohn, Supt. 



FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Fitchburg, Mass., June 4th, 1883. 
National Tube IVorhs Co. 

We have now in use about 17^ miles of wrought iron service pipe. It 
has been laid every year since 1871, and has given good satisfaction. There 
is no alkali in our soil. The pipe is in as good condition as when laid. 
(Signed) Thos. C. EovELL, Superintendent. 



FORT COEUR d'ALENE, IDAHO. 

The adoption and use of Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe 
by the United States Government should receive more than a 
passing notice. A digest can be made from the records herein 



46 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



presented, which will show substantial shipments, that were 
made on orders from the Government for this specialty, which 
were applied to the construction of water-works systems at the 
various forts in the northwest. 

Converse Joint Pipe was at first adopted by the Government 
officials after the most precise and exhaustive examination and 
test, and our repeated shipments to them furnish a powerful en- 
dorsement of our own claims and those of all others who have 
voluntarily expressed their appreciation of its manifold merits. 

We quote the following from an official Government circular 
issued from the "Office of Post Quartermaster, Fort Coeur 
d'Alene, Idaho, March 21st, 1885," and signed: " S. E. Clark, 
1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster, 2d Infantry, Post Quarter- 
master. " 

1,500 feet of Kalamein wrought iron water pipe, 6 inch. 

5,000 feet of Kalamein wrought iron water pipe, 4 inch. 

All valves, hydrants, fittings, etc., except those in connection with pump 
and boiler, to be fitted with Converse Patent Tock Joint coupling and open 
to the left. 



FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. 

Fort Collins, Coi,., August 24, 1883. 
A T atioaal Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiries as to what satisfaction the National Tube 
Works Company's pipe is giving here would say, that I find the pipe to be 
in every respect equal to the representations of the N. T. W. Co. 's agents, 
and its resistance to pressure to be far more reliable than cast-iron. We 
have frequently marked over 200 pounds per square inch in tests, and I 
think such pressure from quick closing of valves and hydrants most fre- 
quently has run the pressure to 300 pounds per square inch, without injury 
to pipes or couplings. 

I have had occasion to remove short pieces of the pipes that had been 
imbedded in the worst of our alkali soil and water since last winter and 
failed to find any spot in such pipe where the iron has been touched by rust. 
In short, the pipe gives unusual satisfaction to our citizens, so far as I can 
learn, in every way. 

(Signed) H. P. Handy, 

Engineer and Water Supt. of the Fort Collins Water Works. 



FORT GKATIOT, MICHIGAN. 

Fort Gratiot, Mich., Jan. 2d, 1S89. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your inquiry of Dec. 27th, relative to material furnished 
this village in '85, you are most respectfully informed that pipe, hydrants, 
etc., have been and are giving good salisj "a ciion, are in good condition, none 



TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS PRESSURE. 47 



the worse for wear, and we are subject to no expense for repairs, and I think 
the material is fully up to the standard guaranteed by you. 

I first bacatne acquainted with this pipe when we were about purchas- 
ing a supply for our new plant in the city of Fort Gratoit in 18S5 ; we were 
very anxious to get the best quality of pipe, and I was Clerk of the Village 
(now city) of Fort Gratiot, and placed upon a Committee of the Council to 
investigate the various kinds of pipe used for the kind of water works we 
were about putting in, being a water works system similar to the Holly sys- 
tem. Our committee visited various cities in the country, and we think we 
made a complete and thorough investigation before deciding what kind of 
pipe to purchase. We made our recommendation to the Council and our 
judgment was that your Kalamein pipe was the best we could obtain ; the 
Council came to the same conclusion and purchased at that time, and since 
then we have used between six and seven miles of it. While investigating 
and before purchasing, we were visited at our home by representatives of 
the various pipe manufacturers. I remember one from Rhode Island, and 
one from Bay City, who represented the wood pipe ; most of the others rep- 
resented cast-iron pipe. I think this matter was very thoroughly investi- 
gated, because our Council was composed of first-class mechanics, many of 
them employed in the works of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Co., 
and there was considerable anxiety to get the best pipe, so that I believe I 
became possessed of all the information that was obtainable on the subject, 
and had the very best aid from good mechanics to assist me. We com- 
menced using it in the fall of 1885, and have been using it ever since. We 
commenced pumping into the mains in March, 1886, and all our pipe was 
laid Kalamein, having in the ground at that time between 5 and 6 miles ; 
our pumping works were of the best quality. We tested it in every way pos- 
sible, on two different occasions putting a pressure of 250 lbs. of cold water, 
as one of our means of testing it, and it stood the test in a very satisfactory 
manner, fully equal to our expectations and the representations made when 
we bought it, so that we found it first-class in every particular. We soon 
commenced to take up the pipe in various places for domestic purposes, and 
we have been watchful to discover any defect that might develop. Our last 
tapping was done this week. We have a population of about 3,000, and we have 
made nearly 300 opening in the pipe without discovering any defect whatever; 
it is in as good order to-da}^ as when it was first laid, no change whatever, 
and I consider it first-class now, as it was when laid. As another test, for 
my own information, I placed two lengths of the pipe on the ground ever 
since the fall of 1885 and have examined it and there I find no change, but 
everything seems as good as new. There is no fault whatever to find with 
this pipe in our city, but if we wanted any amount we should order the 
same kind and quality and continue to use it. 

(Signed) J. A. McMarTin, Supt. Water Works. 

The following affidavit was voluntarily sent to our Chicago 
Branch House: 

Deposition of Julius A. McMartin, of lawful age, taken pursuant to the 
foregoing notice, before O'Brien J. Atkinson, a Notary Public, on oral 
interrogatories and cross interrogatories, H. E. Keeler appearing for the 
plaintiff, and no one appearing for the defendant. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Julius A. McMarTin, being duly sworn and examined, deposed as 

follows : 

Direct Examination. 

Question. What is your age, residence and occupation ? 

Answer. Age, 47 ; residence, Fort Gratiot, Michigan ; am Deputy 
United States Collector of Customs District at Port Huron, Michigan, and 
Superintendent of the Water Works for the City of Fort Gratiot ; am a house 
builder. 

O. Are you familiar with the water pipe manufactured by the National 
Tube Works Company, known as the " Kalamein " pipe ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Please state particularly what experience you have had with it. 

A. I first became acquainted with this pipe when we were about pur- 
chasing a supply for our new plant in the City of Fort Gratiot, in 1885. 
We were very anxious to get the best quality of pipe, and I was clerk of the 
village (now city) of Fort Gratiot, and placed upon a committee of the 
Council to investigate the various kinds of pipe used for the kind of water 
works we were about putting in, being the water system similar to the 
Holly system. Our committee visited various cities in the country, and we 
think we made a complete and thorough investigation before deciding what 
kind of pipe to purchase. We made our recommendation to the Council, 
and our judgment was that the Kalamein pipe was the best we could 
obtain. The Council came to the same conclusion, and we purchased, at 
that time and since, between six and seven miles of that kind of pipe from 
the National Tube Works of Chicago. While investigating, and before pur- 
chasing, we were visited at our home by representatives of the various pipe 
manufacturers. I remember one from Rhode Island and one from Bay City 
who represented the wood pipe. Most of the others represented cast-iron 
pipe. I think this matter was very thoroughly investigated, because our 
Council was composed of first-class mechanics, many of them employed in 
the works of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Company, and there 
was considerable anxiety to get the best pipe, so that I believe I became 
possessed of all the information then obtainable on the subject, and had the 
very best aid from good mechanics to assist me. We commenced using it 
in the fall of 1885, and have been using it ever since. Our pipe was laid 
very largely in quicksand. 

O. State from your actual experience what you know with respect to 
the quality and durability of said pipe, fully ? 

A. We commenced pumping into the mains in March, 1886, and all 
our pipe was laid Kalamein, having in the ground at that time between five 
and six miles. Our pumping works were of the best quality, and those who 
furnished us the pipe had guaranteed it to stand a high pressure, so we 
tested it in every way possible, on two different occasions putting a pressure 
of 250 pounds of cold water, as one of our means of testing it, and it stood 
the test in a very satisfactory manner, fully equal to our expectations and 
the representations made when we bought it, so that we found it first-class 
in every particular. We soon commenced to tap the pipe at various places 
for domestic purposes, and we have been watchful to discover any defect 



WOULD CONTINUE TO USE CONVERSE JOINT. 



that might develop. Our last tapping was done this week. We have a 
population of about three thousand, and we have made nearly three hundred 
openings in the pipe without discovering any defect whatever ; it is in as 
good order to-day as when it was first laid, no change whatever, and I con- 
sider it first-class now, as it was when laid. As another test for my own 
information, I placed two lengths of the pipe on the ground ever since the 
fall of 1S85, and have examined it, and there I find no change, but every- 
thing seems as good as new. There is no fault whatever to find with this 
pipe in our city, and if we wanted any amount we should order the same 
kind and quality, and continue to use it. 

(Signed) Julius A. McMarTin. 

I, O'Brien J. Atkinson, a Notary Public in and for the City of Fort 
Gratiot, County of St. Clair, State of Michigan, duly commissioned, do 
hereby certify that on the 13th day of June, 1889, at ten o'clock A. M., pur- 
suant to the foregoing notice, the deposition of Julius A. McMartin was 
taken before me at my office in the City of Fort Gratiot. That the foregoing 
is the deposition referred to, and the whole thereof, and that the said witness 
before testifying was cautioned and sworn to testify the whole truth, and 
was carefully examined. His testimony was reduced to writing by me, and 
after being reduced to writing was carefully read over by me to the witness, 
and subscribed by him. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal the 
13th day of June, 1889. 

(Signed) O'Brien J. Atkinson, 

Notary Public for St. Clair County, Mich. 



FORT PEMBINA, NORTH DAKOTA. 

Fort Pembina, N. D., Nov. 7th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry of October 20th, about the Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Kalameiu Pipe which we are using, I would state that it is seven 
years since we first put in the Kalamein pipe and it g ; ves us no trouble. 
This summer we put in 1000 feet more of the same kind of pipe and also 
called for 1000 feet more of the Kalamein pipe, but the Chief Q. M. sent us 
cast-iron on the last 1000-foot order. When we examined the Kalamein 
pipe this summer it appeared as good as when it was put in. We have a 
steady pressure of 25 lbs. to the sq. in. 

I find the Kalamein pipe to be very easily laid and requires very little 
lead. 

I find them very clean inside and as regards the Converse Patent Lock 
Joint, it is perfect, and there is no pulling out or leaks about the joint. 

I cannot say anything about cast-iron pipe, except that it costs a great 
deal more to lay it — as we have not had it long enough to give it a trial. I 
would much prefer the Kalamein pipe. 

There is alkali in the soil here. 

(Signed) J. J. Dormer, Supt. Water Works, 



50 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



FORT SHERMAN, IDAHO. 

Fort Sherman, Idaho, Nov. 3d, 1892. 
National Tube Jl r orks Co. 

In reply to yours of Oct. 20th, can say that the Converse Lock Joint 
Kalamein Pipe gives entire satisfaction. I have had charge of the water 
works here during the past six years. 

About two months ago I took up some Kalamein pipe that was laid 
seven years ago and found it free from corrosion both inside and out, and in 
perfect condition in all respects. 

I have had to take up some cast-iron pipe and replace it with Kalamein 
pipe because the former corrodes to such a degree that it obstructs the flow 
of water very materially. 

Kalamein does not affect the water. 

Amount of pressure, 80 lbs. to the square inch. 

Cost of repairs, in making, or calking joints, is so small as to be scarcely 
worth mentioning, while the cost of laying is fully fifty per cent, less than 
that of any other pipe. 

The soil here is sand and gravel. 

The name of this post has been changed from Cceur d'Alene to 
Sherman, and the superintendent of water works in Coeur d'Alene City got 
your letter, hence the delay in replying. 

Please send me a new catalogue and price list of the Kalamein pipe and 
fittings, and oblige. 

(Signed) W. W. Roberts, Supt. Water Works. 



FREMONT, MICHIGAN. 

Fremont, Michigan, October 25, 1892. 
National Tube ]] T orks Co. 

Yours in regard to Kalamein pipe received. In reply, would say that 
thus far it has given good satisfaction. It is carrying from 60 to 120 lbs. 
pressure, have never had any breaks, and have not had to repair more than 
three to four leaks per year. What we have has been in the ground nine 
years. Have had occasion to cut the mains several times to set hydrants 
and lay cross-pipes, and was surprised at the internal more than the external 
condiiion of the pipe. I cut some pieces from the mains and meant to send 
them to you so that you could judge for yourselves, but, as they were left in 
the ditch, I suppose they were covered up. In lead and labor Kalamein 
pipe is cheaper to lay than cast-iron. Our soil is mostly clay, but some of 
the pipe runs through very low places. Its internal condition is about the 
same as cast-iron, but there seems to be less friction in the Kalamein. 
(Signed) Andrew Gerber, Supt. W. W. 



FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. 

WROUGHT IRON PIPE. 
After being in use in the water works distribution system at 
San Pedro, N. M., for ten years, where the water was strongly 
impregnated with alkali, now being rf.laid in the new water 
works system at Fresno, California. 

San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 22, 1893. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., National Tube Works Co., New York. 

The writer was returning from Hanford, Cal., a few days ago, and stopped 
at Fresno, Cal., for a short time, While at Fresno, I saw several car loads 



AFTER TEN YEARS, REMOVED AND RELAID. 51 

of io-inch wrought iron pipe on the side track. I noticed that some of the 
pipe was fitted with the old Wiley joint. I could not learn where the pipe 
came from, other than that it was from some point in New Mexico, where it 
had been in use for several years, and that it was to be used in the new dis- 
tribution system at Fresno, Cal. This is amusing, from the fact that the 
owners of the Fresno water works persistently claimed to the writer that they 
would use nothing but cast iron pipe in their system and would not consider 
any proposition on Kalamein pipe. 

The pipe appeared to be in excellent condition. 

The parties operating the Fresno Water Works, have the title of Muni- 
cipal Investment Company, with the principal stockholders in Chicago. I 
cannot, however, recall any of their names at present. 

(Signed) Thos. W. Brooks. 

The pipe above referred to was re-shipped from San Pedro. 
N. M. See references under that heading. 



FULTON, ILLINOIS. 

Fulton, Illinois, October 31, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of 20th inst., asking the condition, etc., of the Patent Lock 
Joint Kalamein Pipe, is at hand. I would say in reply that it has given 
general satisfaction, and the annual cost of repairs and breaks since we have 
used it (five years), has amounted to nothing ; that is, we have had none. The 
amount of pressure we carry here is from 35 to 100 lbs. Present condition 
of pipe excellent. The soil here is in some places clay, others stone, and 
still others sand. The pipes are always clean, and there is no effect on the 
water. We have some cast-iron pipe in our distribution system that gives 
satisfaction. 

(Signed) Jas. ParnelL, City Engineer. 



FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA. 

W. W. Taylor, C.E., built the Chestertown Water Works, us- 
ing our pipe. He has built a number of water works in the south- 
east, and is very familiar with cast-iron pipe. The following 
letter is significant: 

Fredericksburg, Va. , July 16, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I was unable to impress upon the authorities here the superiority of 
your pipe over cast-iron. I will have ready very soon a small town on 
the eastern shore of Maryland, where I will place your pipe. * * 
I hope to be able to drive my business much stronger next summer, and 
will use your pipe wherever possible, as I think it is the pipe of the future. 
(Signed) W. W. Taylor, C. E. 



GENESEO, ILLINOIS. 

The cast-iron fraternity wrote a slanderous letter and cir- 
culated an untrue report from Cincinnati, which was in effect 



52 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



that the Converse Lock Joint pipe system at Geneseo, 111., was 
a total failure. The two following letters prove the utter falsity 
of this attack : 

GENESEO, III., December 27th, 1889. 
H. E. Keeler, Esq., Chicago, 111. 

Your letter of the 19th received and its contents noted, and I can 
frankly state that the Cincinnati letter is false, and an affidavit can be 
obtained in our city at any time to that effect. 

(Signed) R. T. Harrington. 

Geneseo, III., December 27th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Alderman R. T. Harrington has handed in yours of the 19th, and in 
reply will say that the party writing the letter from Cincinnati is decidedly 
wrong in saving that the pipe you furnished is not giving satisfaction. 

At a special meeting held last Monday evening, Alderman Harrington 
brought the matter up, and by a motion the clerk was instructed to write 
you ' that the pipe is in use at the present time, and has given perfect 
satisfaction.' 

(Signed) J. F. LieberknechT, City Clerk. 

P. S. — I have mailed you a Republic, containing proceedings of meeting 
above alluded to. 

(Signed) J. F. T. 

Geneseo, Ills, April nth, 1890. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Four years ago this summer we put in about ten blocks of Kalamein 
pipe for water mains, 6, 8 and 4-inch. Three years ago this summer we 
turned the water from our artesian well into the mains, and have used it 
continually since, and have had no trouble at all. I don't know as to any 
pipe smaller than 4-inch. 

The water from our artesian well is very bad on wrought-iron pipe, eating 
it out very quickly, but does not seem to affect Kalamein. 

(Signed) J. W. Smith, Mayor. 



GEORGETOWN, TEXAS. 



San Gabriel Water Works Co ) 

Georgetown, Tex., Oct. 10, 1884. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have tested your pipe up to 200 pounds here and am satisfied it will 
stand more than any cast-iron pipe made ; besides, the water is always clear 
and good for domestic purposes, while in cast-iron it becomes rusty and a 
great deal has to be wasted. This is a great saving in favor of your pipe, 
besides the better satisfaction it gives to patrons. I was opposed to your 
pipe until I tried it here, having alwaj^s used cast-iron pipe and advocated 
it, but I think cast-iron pipe has had its day as a water pipe, more especially 
in this warm country, where we depend on small rivers and springs for our 
supply. Your Kalamein pipe does not affect the water one particle, and 



ELEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS PUMPING PRESSURE. 53 



everybody knows that cast-iron will. Besides, there is a great saving in 
pumping, there being not more than one third the friction to contend with. 
I have five miles of it in use here. 

(Signed) M. P. KELEEY, 

Supt. of Construction (now Vice-President). 



Georgetown, Texas. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours in regard to Kalamein pipe laid in our city, we are 
perfectly satisfied with the pipe in question, and cheerfully recommend it as 
far preferable to cast-iron. 

Our pressure is as high as 190 pounds, and so far we have never had a 
break in it, and besides it has never colored our water, and shows no indi- 
cation of rust on the inside or outside. 

(Signed) B. A. Strange, 

Mayor of Georgetown, Texas. 



GliAMIS, CALIFORNIA. 

Paymaster Mining Co. 
Geamis, San Diego Co., Cae., Dec. 10th, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

For over two years we have been using fourteen miles of your two inch 
pipe for conveying 30,000 gallons of water daily from the Colorado River to 
our fifteen stamp silver mill. The elevation to be overcome is nine hundred 
feet, which, with pipe friction, requires an initial pressure at the pump of 
eleven hundred pounds to the square inch. Up to date we have never had 
a leak or break from any fault on your part. A large portion of the line lies 
on the surface of the ground, and has been subject to a temperature of 25 
with no more serious injury than half a dozen slight leaks. 

(Signed) H. W. Beaisdeee, M. E. 



GLENWOOD, MINNESOTA. 

Geenwood, Minn., December 11, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your engineer has been here about two weeks superintending the laying 
of the water pipe and connecting with hydrants ; consequently the pipe is 
well laid, and we are pleased with the pipe and the entire job. 
(Signed) K. J. Kinney, 

President of the Village Council. 



GEENWOOD, Minn., March 2, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of February 20, would state that our pipe system is 
giving very good satisfaction. During the year 1885 there was but one leak. 
(Signed) K. J. Kinney. 



54 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



GLENWOOB SPRINGS, COLORADO. 

Glenwood Springs, Col., October 19th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of the 7th, received in my absence, making inquiries 
about Kalamein pipe, would say my experience of it is everything in its 
favor for strength and durability. I used it in the water works at Aspen, 
Col., four years ago, and they still use it in their extensions. The water 
works at Muskegon, Mich., which I built in 1875, using cast iron pipe, are 
substituting Kalamein in its place : also many other cities which I could 
mention. 

It comes in longer lengths, uses about half the amount of lead to the 
joint, and its weight is so much less than cast iron that it is far cheaper 
where transportation is costly. 

(Signed) Mason W. Mather, 

General Manager. 

Glenwood Water and Light Company. } 

Glenwood Springs, Colo., July 14th, 1892. ^~ 
G. N. Riley, Esq., Salt Lake City, Utah. 

In reply to your inquuy as to our satisfaction with the National Tube 
Works Company's Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Water Pipe for 
water works mains, I beg to say that in 1885 and 1886 I built the water 
works at Aspen, Colo., using the Kalamein pipe, and since then have built 
and operated the water works here and also at New Castle, Colorado. The 
Kalamein pipe gives the best satisfaction ; it is perfect. Aspen increases its 
pipage this year and uses the Kalamein pipe. We are also to use it in our 
new hotel under a steady pressure of 210 pounds per square inch. It is far 
ahead of cast-iron or any other kind of pipe. The new hotel will cost at 
least $500,000, and we think it will be the finest, or one of the finest, in the 
country. Our water is the purest in the country and with the Kalamein 
pipe the water is delivered to the consumer in its natural state, uncontami- 
nated by rust and corrosion that are usually foun d in cast-iron pipe. I shall be 
pleased to see you at the opening of the hotel, due notice of which will 
doubtless be given by the press. 

(Signed) Mason W. Mather, Genl. Manager. 



GONZALES, TEXAS. 

Gonzales, Tex., June 7, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have just taken up 1,200 feet of your Kalamein pipe to replace it with 
larger sizes of Kalamein pipe. I find it in as good order, just as good as 
when put down five years ago. I expect to give it a coat of coal tar and put 
it down again when smaller sized pipe is wanted. I think it is good for the 
balance of my life and probably a great deal longer. 

(Signed) T. S. Walker, Superintendent. 

P. S. — I have had 120 lbs pressure on the Kalamein pipes a great many 
times. I use no other pipe in my entire system of waterworks, — prefer it to 
all others on account of lightness and durability. 

(Signed) T. S. Walker. 



SUPERIOR FOR MANY REASONS. 55 

Office of Gonzales Water Works Company. \ 
Gonzales, Texas, Oct. 20th, 1892. j 

National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your letter of October 14th, 92, will state as follows : 

1st. We are carrying from 60 to 135 pounds pressure daily and have 
gone to 180 and 200 pounds. 

2d. Sometimes a leaky lead joint, but never knew a joint to break or 
burst. 

3d. The annual cost of repairs is hardly anything, might say perhaps 
one-quarter of one per cent. 

4th. The present condition of the pipe is splendid— good as when first 
put in. 

5th. As to the economy of lead and labor in laying, would say that it 
is the most economical in every respect, in fact, that is one of its great 
merits. 

6th. The soil in which it is laid is red clay, sand and black-waxy or 
loam. 

7th. Its internal condition is perfectly clean. 

Sth. It has no effect on the water. 

9th. The Converse Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe is superior to cast-iron 
pipe for many reasons. It is lighter; will stand more pressure ; no break- 
age in shipment ; more economical to lay and handle ; takes less lead to 
make the joints, and, I believe, it will last equally as long. 

(Signed) R. H. Walker, Supt. 



GRAND FORKS, DAKOTA. 

City Engineer's Office. \ 

Grand Forks, Dakota Ter., Nov. 13, 1884, \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

I am in receipt of a neat volume of useful mechanical tables, for which I 
am very grateful. We finished laying a little over 8,000 feet of your Kala- 
mein pipe fitted with the Converse Lock Joint last month, wich is giving 
excellent satisfaction, and I think we shall want more of it soon. 

(Signed) W. S. RUSSELL, Civil Engineer. 



W. S. Russell, the city engineer, wrote one of our constructing 
engineers the following : 

We tested the new pipe by a pressure of 150 pounds, which it stood 
without a leak. Since that the water has been shut off on account of the 
Power Furnishing Company. So far as the strength is concerned, I am sure 
the pipes are all that could be asked, but as for durability, we can only quote 
the experience of others, which is highly commendable to it, so far as I have 
heard. 

Grand Forks, Dak., October 30th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The summer, of 1884, we laid about three miles of Kalamein pipe, which, 
owing to its light weight, easy and substantial connections, we found to be 



56 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



a very cheap pipe. It has been in constant use since, under a pressure from 
60 to 100 pounds per square inch, and has given us but very little trouble to 
maintain. So far, there is no corrosion or perceptible deterioration, from 
any cause. It has a very smooth interior surface, which greatly accelerates 
the discharge. 

(Signed) W. S. RUSSELL, Supt. 



GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN". 

Grand Haven, Mich., April 15, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have used your Kalamein pipe on extensions and services quite largety, 
in sizes varying from 1 to 6-inch, and am well satisfied and shall need quite 
a large amount during the year. 

(Signed) Grand Haven Water Works, 

Geo. Van Patten, Supt. 



GUNNISON, COLORADO. 

The pipe which, we furnished the Gunnison Gas and Water 
Company was used in the part of the system devoted to water 
works. Our engineer, George N. Riley, saw this pipe tested to 
250 pounds pressure — everything was satisfactory. We are in- 
formed that these works are owned by Mr. Harrison, of the 
Shickle, Harrison & Howard Iron Company, who are among the 
largest manufacturers of cast-iron pipe. 



Gunnison, Coi,o., Sept. 13, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 31st ult., would say the pipe purchased of your 
company in 1882 has been as satisfactory as we expected. The 6-inch and 
3-inch shipped us in May, 1886, was very satisfactory. The Kalamein was 
well incorporated into the body of the iron, and the asphaltum on top of 
that made the metal as perfectly impervious to the action of the weather 
and soil as it seems possible to make it. The Converse Joint, as now made, 
forms one of the most perfect lead joints I have examined. I apprehend 
no trouble from this pipe whatever. In our lines laid by inexperienced 
help entirely only one imperfect joint was found, when tested under 100 
pounds pressure before covering the pipe. 

(Signed) The Gunnison Gas and Water Co., 

D. J. McCanne, Supt. 



Gunnison Gas and Water Co., [ 
Gunnison, Colo., October 19, 1892. \ 

National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry as to the satisfaction, etc., that the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe is giving which you furnished some time 



RIVETED PIPE NOT SATISFACTORY. 57 



since, would say that it is giving good satisfaction. It is carrying from 85 
to 100 lbs. pressure, and the only breaks we ever had were caused by frost. 
The annual cost of repairs is very small indeed. Economy of lead and 
labor in laying, compared with cast-iron pipe, is 25 per cent., and the soil 
in which the pipe is laid is gravelly. It is a good substitute for cast-iron 
pipe, especially when freights are a large item. 

(Signed) D. J. McCanne, Supt. 



Gunnison, Colo., October 19, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In further reply to your inquiries, would say our first purchase of your 
special light pipe was made in 1882, before you used the Kalamein Coating. 
This pipe was asphalted only. Upon examination of a six-inch line of this 
pipe, about l{ miles in length, we find a few rust spots. 

(Signed) The Gunnison Gas and Water Co., 

D. J. McCanne, Supt. 



HAILEY, IDAHO. 

HaieEy, Idaho, December 17, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

At noon yesterday we completed the works. At five minutes to three 
we turned the water into the reservoir, and at half-past three we opened the 
valve and turned the water into the long line of pipe. At fifteen minutes 
past four it rushed through the valve at the lower end and through the 
hydrants on Main Street, and we had successfully completed what the old 
croakers here say was impossible. Not a leak nor a difficulty anywhere in 
the pipe. 

(Signed) Coffin Bros. 

On March 30th, 1884, Mr. E. C. Coffin, the Secretary of the 
Company, in answer to an inquiry from the town of Dayton, 
Wash., wrote: " The National Tube Works Company's Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Pipe is perfectly satisfactory, and, if we Avere 
putting in these works again, we should use no other." 



Haii,ey, Idaho. 
National Tube If r o/-ks Co. 

We have carefully investigated the merits of sheet-iron and special 
riveted pipe, and in our line we are using 7,500 feet of Root's Special Riveted 
Pipe, 7 in. in diameter, starting from our reservoir, and the pressure being 
slight on the whole lengths of the same. We are compelled to admit that 
it is not satisfactory, owing somewhat to the lateness of the season when we 
got it in, but more particularly to the character of the joint ; we do not 
believe, with our present experience, it can be made tight and satisfactory 
with a cement joint. We discovered no trouble until several days after I 
had written a commendatory letter to Messrs. A. & R. We know the spiral 
riveted pipe is not practical for distributing mains, as it cannot be tapped 



58 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



satisfactorily for service. All of our pipe, except that above named, includ- 
ing all distributing mains and pipe to be tapped for service connections, is 
the National Tube Works Company's Light Weight Wrought Iron Pipe, 
with Converse Joint, to be tapped with their National Tapping Machine. 
This pipe is perfectly satisfactory, and, if we were putting in these works 
again, we should use no other. We use for street mains 6 in., 5 in., and 4 in. 
(Signed) E. C. Coffin, 

Secretary Altimas Water Company. 



HANCOCK, MICHIGAN. 

Hancock, Mich., October 30th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of 10/20, I am pleased to say that eight years ago the 
village of Hancock put in about 12,000 feet of your 3-in. and 6-in. Kalamein 
pipe, and within the last 60 days we took it all up and re-laid it to our new 
source of water supply. On taking it up we found the internal condition to 
be as bright and clean as it was when we first put it in the ground eight 
years ago, and, externally, it had not corroded in the least, but was nearly 
as bright as when we laid it. 

We had four thousand feet of cast iron pipe which we also took up after 
being in the service 12 years, and which we expected to re-lay, but we found 
it so badly corroded internally that we were unable to use it, and consequently 
broke it up and sold it for old iron. While the Kalamein was in the ground 
no breaks occurred and consequently no expense for repairs. It at all times 
carried a pressure of sixty pounds gravity, and when it is re-laid it will be 
subject to a constant pressure of 100 lbs. The soil in which it was laid 
is gravelly, and the water as it came through the pipe was at all times remark- 
ably clear and free from the discoloration usually found in cast and wrought- 
iron pipes that freely corrode. 

When we dug it up we were much pleased and surprised at its condition. 
If we require any pipe in the future we would certainly give the Kalamein 
the preference over any. 

(Signed) A. J. Scot?, 

Supt. Water Works. 



HANFORD, CALIFORNIA. 

THE NEW FIRE MAINS. 
Excellence of the Material Contracted For. 
The new mains for the fire system, which Z. D. Johns & Co. will put in 
under contract, are manufactured from steel or iron, and are 110 doubt the 
best and most lasting kind now made. It is the Kalamein, manufactured 
in Pittsburg, Pa., by the National Tube Works Co., for which Dunham, 
Carrigan & Hayden Co. are Pacific coast agents, and the firm was represented 
here by T. W. Brooks. The pipe fittings are with the Converse Lock Joint, 
which makes a clear bore and a very solid joint. The pipe is coated with a 
composition of lead, tin and nickle, which is applied with the piping at 
white heat, and is lasting. A sample of this pipe, dug up at Seattle after 



i MILE CAST, 7 BURSTS ; 25 MILES CONVERSE, NOT A LEAK. 59 



being in the ground nine years, shows as bright and good as new. These 
mains will be some 15,000 feet in extent, varying in size from 4 to 8 inches. 
The Kalamein has been tested in strong alkaline soil in San Bernardina, 
and it withstands the effects wonderfully. — Hanford (Cal.) Sentinel, April 
27, 1S95. 

HELENA, MONTANA. 

Helena, Mont., October 24th, 1889. 
J. R. Bothwell, Esq., Ogden, Utah'. 

I have before me a communication from the National Tube Works Co. , of 
Chicago, 111. , requesting me to give you such information as I can as to the 
merits of Kalamein water pipe. In connection with the same I will say, I 
have constructed works at various points throughout the United States on 
my own account, and have no relation with the National Tube Works Co. , 
except that of purchaser. I have spent a good deal of time in informing 
myself as to the merits of their pipe, it being much cheaper for all far Western 
points than cast-iron pipe and consequently to the interests of corporations 
and companies to use it, if it would satisfy the requirements of a water pipe. 
As compared to cast-iron, the result of such investigation as I have given it 
has convinced me of the following facts: 

The Kalamein process is a protection against oxidation. The tensile 
strength is much greater than that of cast-iron. The smooth interior surface 
of the pipe under expert tests, or in practice for fire streams, permits of a 
freer passage of water and will pass a greater volume of water than the 
same size of cast pipe which has a rough interior surface. The tapping 
arrangements for this pipe are simple, practicable and durable, and the 
machinery for accomplishing the same is so light that it can be carried 
around by hand, saving the use of horse and wagon. I have used the Kala- 
mein pipe in all my Western jobs, the two last being at Fort Benton, Mont., 
where I own the works myself, and Helena, Mont., where I am a promi- 
nent stockholder in the company. We have used about 25 miles here 
and now have orders in for about 5 miles of extensions. A fact which 
I deem of some importance is that on work here in Helena the con- 
structing engineer thought best to use 1 mile of cast-iron pipe running 
from the pumping station up the hill in the direction of the city. His rea- 
son was that the pressure being 196 pounds to the inch at that point, that 
cast pipe would be safer than light Kalamein pipe. In testing our works 
we had from 5 to 7 " busts " in the cast pipe. It would usually split from 5 
to 7 feet and blow the ditch right open. Not having cast pipe here to mend 
these breaks we put in, in three or four instances, Kalamein pipe and can 
say that we have not had one instance where the Kalamein pipe was split or 
given away under this pressure. 

Being glad to give you such information as I can and to accommodate 
the National Tube Works people, I am 

(Signed) Geo. F. Woolston. 

Helena, Montana, July 29th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It may be of interest to your Company to learn of the many inquiries I 
have received from Western cities asking what is the life of Kalamein pipe. 



60 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



This question I have answered very fully, having had great practical experi- 
ence in laying all kinds and sizes of the different manufactures of pipe, 
including the pipe fitted with the Converse Lock Joint, and have laid many 
miles of it. I cheerfully endorse the same as being without question the 
best joint for water and any purpose where tight and perfect lines are 
required, and for all practicable purposes I found the Converse Lock Joint 
superior to all others. 

My reasons for recommending this pipe to Western cities are : The great 
economy in transportation and laying, requiring only half the amount of 
lead compared with other makes. The long lengths reduce the amount of 
openings fully 60 per cent., thus lessening friction and liability to leakage. 
Then the uniformity of lead space, fitting so neatly, that no lead runs into 
the pipe while pouring joints, hence dispensing with packing, consequently 
making a perfect and solid joint ; also, that the joint cannot settle to cause 
leakage, as the plain ends enter the bell part, having an equal bearing all 
around, making it very rigid, while all the features of contraction and 
expansion are fully covered. 

Last year I removed from two of the now closely built streets of Helena 
8,050 feet of 10-iuch Kalamein pipe, to be replaced by a 16-inch line, and I 
found each length in a perfect state of preservation. 

I re-laid the entire 8,050 feet again in the Lenox addition to the City of 
Helena, except a few feet forwarded to your Chicago office to show you the 
fine condition of the pipe. 

T have been informed by Mr. R. S. Hale, the purchaser of the pipe, that 
it was laid in the season of 1879, being in actual service twelve years. I 
found on a careful examination that there was no corrosion either on 
internal or external surface of the pipe, and as now re-laid I feel confident 
that this pipe will last for an unlimited number of years. It appears to the 
writer from the many inquiries received from Western cities that Kalamein 
pipe is rapidly growing in favor in the West. 

(Signed) F. J. Stever, C. E., 

Supt. Helena Consolidated Water Co. 



Helena, Montana, Nov. 23d, 1892. 
Mr. Keeler, Chicago, III. 

I have this day received a long letter from Jones & Jacobs, Engineers 
and Contractors, Salt Take City, Utah, asking for my opinion of the life and 
durability of Kalamein pipe. 

I have written them fully with reference to the above, and please find 
enclosed a copy of the letter. 

F. J. STEVER, Supt. 

[Copy of Letter.] 

Helena, Montana, Nov. 23d, 1892. 
Messrs. Jones & Jacobs, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

In reply to your letter of Nov. 18th, asking for information relating to 
the life and durability of Kalamein pipe, would say : 

Having great practical experience in laying all kinds and sizes of the 
different manufactures of pipe, including the pipe fitted with Converse Lock 



AFTER 12 YEARS' SERVICE, REMOVED AND RELAID. 61 



Joiut, and having laid many miles of it, I cheerfully indorse the same as being 
without question the best joint for water, and any purposes where tight and 
perfect lines are required, and for all practical purposes I found the Converse 
Lock Joint superior to all others. 

This pipe only requires one-half the amount of lead compared with 
other makes. The long lengths reduce the amount of openings fully sixty 
per cent., thus lessening friction and liability to leak ; then the uniformity 
of lead space fitting so neatly that no lead runs into the pipe while pouring 
joints, hence, dispensing with packing, consequently making a perfect and 
solid joint ; also that the joint cannot settle and cause leaks, as the plain 
ends enter the bell part, having an equal bearing all around, making it very 
rigid, while all the features of contraction and expansion are fully covered. 

I have laid in Helena about forty six miles of this class of pipe, and it 
is all giving perfect satisfaction. Last year I removed from two of the now 
closety built streets of Helena eight thousand and fifty feet of io-inch Kala- 
rnein pipe, to be replaced by a 16-inch Kalamein line. I found each length 
in a perfect state of preservation. I relaid the entire eight thousand and 
fifty feet again in the Lenox addition to the city of Helena. I have been in- 
formed by Mr. R. S. Hale, the purchaser of the pipe, that it was laid in the 
season of 1S79, being in active service twelve years. I found, on a careful 
examination, that there was no corrosion either of internal or external sur- 
face of the pipe, and, as now relaid, I feel confident that this pipe will last 
for an unlimited number of years. 

Any other information the writer would be glad to give if called upon. 
(Signed) F. J. STEVER, Supt. 



Helena, Montana, Feb. 24, 1893. 
Perry M. Blake, Civil Engineer, Hyde Park, Mass. 

Your letter of the 14th iust. at hand, making inquiry of the serviceabil- 
ity and durability of the Kalamein wrought-iron pipe in the Helena Consoli- 
dated Water Company's Plant at Helena, Montana. 

I will give the following practical experience : In 18S7 there was laid 21 
miles of Kalamein pipe in the city of Helena, and in the year 1S79 there 
was laid by the Hale Water Co., in the city of Helena, 2 miles of Kalamein 
pipe ; and, in 1891, the two companies consolidated, making it a necessity 
to remove the two miles that had been in actual service 12 years, as under 
the new arrangement of pipes the line was required to be much larger, and 
about 3 miles of the 21 miles that was laid in 1887 was also removed for a 
similar purpose. The entire 5 miles of Kalamein pipe was, after a careful 
examination, found to be in a perfect state of preservation , having no cor- 
rosion either on internal or external surface, and the entire 5 miles of pipe 
was again relaid in the streets of the Lenox addition to the city of Helena, 
and, as now laid, I feel confident that it will last for an unlimited number 
of years. 

I find that the special treatment and coating of this pipe make a per- 
fect resistance against corrosion. We have had good results from the Kala- 
mein pipe lines, aud feel cheerful to recommend the same. 

(vSigned) F. J. Stever, Supt., 

Helena Consolidated Water Co. 



62 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



HILLSBOEO, NEW MEXICO. 

Hillsboro, N. M., March 8, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are in receipt of your letter of inquiry as to the present condition of 
our wrought iron pipe system, purchased from you and laid for the convey- 
ance of water to our Placer Mines four years ago. We have in our water 
system about six miles of 8-inch, 9-inch and 12-inch of your pipe. 

This pipe is what you call the National Tube Works Company's Special 
Tight Lap-welded Wrought Iron Water Pipe. It was plain iron dipped in 
your asphaltum mixture. 

The present condition of the pipe is good, there being no noticeable 
signs of corrosion. Last fall our reservoir broke loose and it became neces- 
sary to re-lay over a mile of the twelve-inch pipe, and I could not detect any 
sign of rust or corrosion, either inside or outside. The inside of the pipe 
was perfectly free from any tuberculation so characteristic on the interior of 
cast iron pipe. It was to all appearances as clean and fresh as when first 
laid. The eight-inch line has been all taken up and re-laid in another direc- 
tion, and it is in the same good, clean condition. 

The water conveyed through our line is the accumulation of the water 
shed of a part of the Black Range, and being used for hydraulic purposes, 
no attempt is made to keep it clean, and it is often heavily charged with 
impurities, and is more or less impregnated with mineral substances. Not- 
withstanding this fact, the pipe is, as above stated, clean and fresh, showing 
conclusively that it has not and will not foul, like cast iron pipe. 

It is contemplated by this company to extend the pipe line some six 
miles this coming season, and if you can furnish us the same kind of pipe, 
we shall use no other. 

(Signed) G. M. Fuli.KR, Supt., 

Hiu.sboro Hydrauuc Mining Company. 



HOOSAC TUNNEL. 

The Honorable Walter Shanley is well known in the Eastern 
States, as the contractor of the Hoosac Tunnel; he resides in 
Ottawa, Canada, and is well known as an eminent engineer 
throughout the Provinces. We were permitted to read a letter, 
bearing date at Ottawa, Can., January 7, 1885, written to one of 
his old Hoosac Tunnel friends. The letter was partly of a personal 
nature, and we obtained permission to insert a few extracts 
herein, which will be of interest: 

Ottawa, Canada, Jan. 7th, 1885. 
To decide the relative durability of cast and wrought iron 
water pipe, by the test of actual service, would require a very much longer 
period of time than I was engaged in the Hoosac Tunnel. We all know, of 
course, that cast iron pipe has always heretofore held its ground against the 
wrought iron article, as a conduit for water underground, but I have always 
hoped and believed that the time would come when a way would be discov- 



FRICTION ; COMPARATIVE HYDRANT TEST. 63 



ered whereby wrought iron tubing could be applied to all kinds of piping 
with all the advantages hitherto claimed for the cast iron, and with the 
enormous advantage over the latter, of lightness, and consequent cheapness 
in handling. The weight of cast iron is an important disadvantage to its 
use, particularly such work as I carried on in the Hoosac mountain, where 
constant shifting and handling and re-handling were necessary, and wrought 
iron pipe, for conducting the compressed air used as a motor for the drills, 
would have saved man}' thousands of dollars in handling. Now, he will be 
a benefactor to the mechanical world, who will succeed in giving wrought 
iron pipe the necessary durability to enable it to take the place of the 
clumsy cast iron pipe, and I shall be "pleased to note that the Kalamein 
process, reinforced as it is, by the well known preservative of Asphaltum, is 
destined to decide the point in favor of the former. 

(Signed) WALTER ShanlEY. 



HOLLAND, MICHIGAN. 

Holland, Mich., October i, 1883. 
National Tube ]\'orks Co. 

Having had the pleasure of seeing the Indestructible pipe made by the 
National Tube Works Co., at Muskegou last Thursday, and through the 
courtesy of the Superintendent and Water Board of that city, seeing the 
working of the same, and having seen the great advantage this pipe has 
over cast-iron pipe, which is also in use in that city, the Superintendent of 
the water works had a line of hose attached to a hydrant of a cast-iron pipe 
first, and trying the same it would throw 135 feet distance. Then, under 
the same pressure and same size of pipe, he had a line of hose attached to a 
hydrant of the Indestructible pipe, which threw the water 175 feet, showing 
at once the great difference in friction of the two pipes, which is certainly 
a great saving in fuel for water works. The Superintendent of the works 
then showed us a piece of the pipe, which we took home with us and 
showed to the Council of this city. It had been in very strong salt brine 
for two weeks, and did not seem to have any effect on said pipe. I, there- 
fore, Chairman of Committee of Water Pipe for this city, am perfectly 
satisfied that this pipe is the best pipe, and would recommend the same to 
be used for this city as soon as we put in our water works, which will be 
doue as soon as possible. Hoping that we may have from you a bid as soon 
as the contract will be let for this pipe. 

(Signed) R. E. Werkman, 

Chairman Committee on Water Pipe. 



HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN. 

Houghton, Mich, January 2d, iSSq. 
National Tube ITorks Co. 

Yours of the 27th ult. received, and in reply will say that the Kalamein 
pipe and fittings purchased of you in 1884 give perfect satisfaction, and the 
condition of the pipe to all appearances is as good to-day as when put into 
the ground. 

(Signed) Chas. J. Hodge. 



64 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



HURON", DAKOTA. 

Huron, D. T., August i, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We take pleasure in informing you that we have tested our waterworks, 
and that )^our pipe and fittings, of which the water works are constructed, 
have stood all the pressure that our engine is capable of exerting, and have 
no doubt that they will give entire satisfaction in the future. And we also 
feel it a duty and pleasure to testify to the honorable and courteous treat- 
ment that we have received at the hands of your company throughout the 
entire transaction. We also feel thoroughly satisfied that your wrought 
iron pipe is, considering the question of freight, ease of handling and 
durability, the most desirable pipe in the market for constructing water 
works. 

(Signed) S. C. Nash, Mayor. 

T. J. Nichoi^l, City Engineer. 

Chas. EXdridge, )„t , ^ 

On June 7th, 1885, H. J. Rice, then Mayor of Huron, in 
answer to an inquiry from the Chairman of the Water Com- 
mittee, Geneseo,. 111., wrote : 

In reference to Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein pipe, will say that 
it has given perfect satisfaction, and, we think, is far superior to any other. 
If you are going to purchase pipe for your city, do not think you could do 
better than to select this pipe. 



Huron, Dak., Dec. 27th, 18S8. 
National Tube Works Co. 

By instructions of city I took up to-day one length of our 6-in. water 
mains for inspection. 

A very close and careful examination has convinced us that said length 
of pipe (Converse Patent Dock Joint) is perfectly sound and good, and shows 
no signs of injury whatever. 

H. D. Brach. 



Huron, S. D., October 21st, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co, 

I herewith present a few facts in regard to the experience I have had 
for the past eight years with your Converse Joint pipe. 

Kalamein pipe, on account of its smooth interior, has a far greater 
carrying capacity than any other kind of pipe. The connections are easily 
made, never failing, and in laying this pipe 40 per cent, of time, labor and 
expenses are saved. 

The durability of Kalamein is unsurpassed, and it is severely tested in 
our Northwestern States, where the artesian water contains corrosive matter 
and the ground alkali. I have laid in the last eight years water mains in 
the towns of Huron, Aberdeen, Miller, Doland, Britton, Andover, etc., and 
the authorities of any one of these towns would most cheerfully and heartily 



AS GOOD AS NEW AFTER TEN YEARS' SERVICE. 65 



endorse the above statements. Especially has Huron had great experience 
in regard to durability of Kalamein pipe. Should you desire, I most gladly 
would give you further information which it may well be worth your 
while to know. 

(Signed) H. D. Brach, City Plumber. 



Huron, Dak., Dec. ioth, 1S89. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to present condition of Kalamein pipe, we desire to state that 
last October a leak occurred in our 8-inch main, the nature of which was a 
hole about % inch in diameter, and the length of pipe taken out showed a 
number of defects, apparently blisters and places eaten half through the 
metal ; at that time we shipped you a piece of this pipe about two feet long. 

Prior and subsequent to the break on the main we had some trouble with 
small pipes and connections — that is galvanized and black pipes. They were 
eaten in the same manner as the piece of 8-inch main. Under these circum- 
stances we were fearful that our entire system of water works would soon 
become useless, and we therefore made further examination by taking out 
a length of 6-inch main near a dead head. We then received your letter 
asking us to make thorough examination at your expense, which we have 
done by taking out a length of the 8-inch main near the well where circula- 
tion is greatest and found the pipe in perfect condition. 

The result of our experience in the matter seems to prove that black, 
galvanized, wrought, and cast-iron are being rapidly destroyed by the severe 
chemical action of our water, but the Kalamein pipe is durable. The ex- 
ception noticed we think is on account of some defect in that particular 
length of pipe. The City Council will very probably require that Kalamein 
pipe be used exclusively for small connections. 

(Signed) C. H. Cameron, 

Chairman Council Committee on Water Works, 

Al,EX MCINTOSH, 

Water Commissioner. 



Chicago, April 13, 1894. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

At Huron, Dakota, they have taken up a piece of 8-inch Converse Joint 
Kalameined Pipe, about 4 feet long, which was laid in the winter of 1883, 
ten years ago. This piece was cut o,ut for the purpose of making a connec- 
tion with a new well, and we had it shipped on here for the reason that it is 
in such a fine state of preservation that we thought it would be a good sam- 
ple for us to show to any one desiring information in regard to the longevity of 
Kalamein pipe. The water that has passed through this pipe destroys cast- 
iron in from six to twelve months, and the only pipe that they have found 
there that will withstand it is the Kalamein pipe. The piece that I refer to 
above, that has been in for ten years, is in excellent condition, the Kala- 



66 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



meiu bright and clear almost as when it was laid. There is not an imperfec- 
tion either inside or outside, and the pipe could be readily sold and relaid 
elsewhere. We have it standing in our office and it is in the same condition 
as when taken from the ground. 

National Tube; Works Co., 
Chas. A. Lamb, Local Manager. 



IOWA HILL, CALIFORNIA. 

Iowa Hilt, Placer Co., Cal., Feb. ioth, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Having used and tested the efficiency of your lap-welded wrought iron 
pipe, I am prepared to state that in my opinion, for water mains, it is prefer- 
able to any other kind of pipe used. 

(Signed) J. W. Myrick. 



KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. 

Kansas City, Mo., July 9th, 1S89. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It may be some satisfaction for you to know that the lap-welded wrought 
iron pipe is all in place and answering perfectly the purpose for which it was 
designed. It is in a position easy of inspection and in case you desire to re- 
fer to this piece of work you are at perfect liberty to do so. 

(Signed) Kansas City Water Company, 

Per C. A. Jones. 



KEARNEY, NEBRASKA. 



One of our Constructing Engineers received the following 
letter, dated March 7th, 1887, from W. S. Kuhn, General Man- 
ager of the American Water Works and Guarantee Company, 
Limited, with reference to the Kearney, Neb., water works 
system : 

We thoroughly appreciate the services you have done us at Kearney, 
and are more than grateful to you for the efficient and thorough manner in 
which you have laid the Converse Joint Pipe and built the works at that 
point. We feel that to you, more than to any other one man, is due the very 
efficient and thorough manner in which these works have been constructed, 
and from the tests that have been made out there, and the severe pressure 



THE BEST EVER SOLD. 67 



you have carried without rupture of your mains, we are able to say that we 
have never seen that work or material excelled. 

W. S. Kuhn, 

Per Highlands. 



KELSEYVILLE, CALIFORNIA. 

KELSEyvillE, Lake Co., Cal., December 12, 1S89. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I will say that the Converse Lock Joint Pipe is, in my judgment, the 
best ever sold in the market of this coast in the shape of pipes for water 
uses. I have been using it for over two years, and find it as good as new. 
It is best for these reasons : It is light, durable, easy to make the joints, 
easy to cut and to put in T or Y connections ; you don't need anything but 
a hack saw, and this is a great convenience ; more especially in the country, 
where large pipe dies and taps are not to be had. The Converse Pipe I 
prefer to any other. 

(Signed) J. K. Fraser. 

LAKE LINDEN", MICHIGAN". 

Our letter of October 19, 1892, to the Calumet and Hecla 
Mining Co., Lake Linden, Mich., asking about the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Pipe, with which we had previously supplied 
them, was returned to us on November 12, with answers to our 
questions as follows: 

Lake Linden, Mich., Nov. 12, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have 22,000 feet in length of 12-inch rising main. 

Amount of pressure it is carrying, 315 pounds. 

Breaks, if any, none. 

Annual cost of repairs, nothing. 

Present condition of the pipe, good. 

Economy of lead and labor in laying, cannot say. 

Character of soil, &c, gravel, hard-pan, and cedar swamps. 

Internal condition with reference to cleanliness, cannot say. 

Effect, if any, on the water, cannot say. 

How it compares with cast-iron pipe, cannot say. 

(Signed) S. B. Whiting, G. M. 



LAKE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO. 

The Silver Mining Co. oe Lake Valley, \ 

Lake Valley, N. M., Oct. 21st, 1892. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiry of 14th inst., would say that the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalamein water pipe is in use in the Leaching Mill here 
and has given perfect satisfaction. 

(Signed) Ellis Clark, G. M. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



LAREDO, TEXAS. 

Laredo, Texas, March 2, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are in receipt of your inquiries, as follows : 

First. — Whether our pipe gives good satisfaction. 

Ans. — Yes. We shall use your Converse Lock Joint Wrought-Iron 
Pipe in all our extensions in preference to any other. 

Second. — Let us know how much it cost to* maintain the pipe during 
the last fiscal year. 

Ans. — Ten dollars will cover all expenses incurred in maintaining our 
pipe during the last twelve months. 

Third. — How many breaks or leaks in the pipe during the last year? 

Ans. — During the twelve mouths ending February 28th, 1885, there 
have been seven leaks at the joints, occasioned by defective calking when 
laying the pipe. 

Fourth. — What percentage of the total cost of maintaining your works 
does the repairing of the leaks, breaks, etc., amount to ? 

Ans. — Five per cent, of the total cost of maintenance. We have about 
seven miles of your Kalamein Converse Lock Joint pipe, and two miles of 
four-inch screw joint wrought iron pipe in our system. If you make Kala- 
mein service pipe of the same kind as the mains, we shall endeavor to have 
it used exclusively by our patrons hereafter. We hope to extend our pipe 
system to supply New Laredo as soon as we can raise the funds, and hope 
to get favorable terms from you. 

Laredo Water Works Company, 
(Signed) A. L. McLane. 



In an exhaustive description of the new water works at 
Laredo, Texas, the Daily Times of Jannary 31st, 1884, states 
under the following head lines : 

THE WATER WORKS. 

A SUCCESSFUL OFFICIAL TEST GIVEN. THE COMPLETION OF THE WATER 

Works a source of gratification to the people of Laredo— A 

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS WHICH HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFULLY 
INAUGURATED IN OUR MIDST. 

The water is taken from the Rio Grande river to a settling well, and 
from there pumped by direct pressure through mains into the city. This 
gives the consumers a pure and clean supply of water. 

The piping consists of ten, six and four-inch mains. This pipe was 
furnished by the National Tube Works Company of Chicago, and is fitted 
with the Converse Patent Joint. It is almost indestructible, and is acknowl- 
edged to be the best for water mains now in use. It never rusts, the iron 



KALAMEIN PIPE ALWAYS CLEAN. 69 

is at all times clean, and the joint is so constructed that the least possible 
friction is created as the water passes through them. 

At a regular meeting of the City Council, held Saturday, February 2, 
1884, the following resolution, accepting the recently completed water works, 
was unanimously adopted : 

Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Laredo, that a full and 
faithful test of the water works, made on the first day of February, 1884, in 
presence of the City Council, and a careful inspection of the works shows 
that the requirements of the ordinance are in all respects complied with ; 
that the Laredo Water Works Company have constructed an efficient system 
of water w T orks, and that the same be and are hereby accepted. 

On motion, the Mayor was authorized to purchase 150 feet of hose for 
fire purposes for the city. 

The following complimentary resolution was unanimously passed by the 
Council and ordered spread upon the minutes ; the secretary was also 
ordered to furnish Mr. Richardson with an attested copy of the resolution. 

Whereas, the system of water works just completed by the Laredo Water 
Works Company have given entire satisfaction at a full and thorough test 
made on the first day of February, 1884, and have been duly accepted by the 
city. 

Be it resolved, that we, as the City Council of the City of Laredo, cheer- 
fully commend the contractor and builder, Mr. W. D. Richardson, of 
Springfield, Illinois, for the faithful performance of a contract which 
inaugurates the first great step toward the permanent improvement of the 
city of Laredo, and that the best indorsement of his ability as a contractor 
is the most excellent system of waterworks now in operation in this city. 



Laredo, Texas, June 7th, 18S9. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of the 4th inst. we beg leave to say that we are very 
well satisfied with Converse Joint Kalamein Pipe. After the first few 
months we have had no trouble from leaks. The expense of repairing leaks 
during the six years the pipe has been used does not amount to $25. 

As to durability compared with other mains, we have had no experience 
with any other kind. We have two miles of wrought iron four-inch galvan- 
ized laid in 1885 from which we have had no trouble ; but our superintendent 
says that the Kalamein pipe has always been found clean inside in all cases 
when he has had occasion to take up a length. 

Our last order is a better indorsement, however, than anything we can 
say. 

If there are any defects in your pipe we have not yet discovered them. 
(Signed) The Laredo Water Co. 

Per McLane. 



Laredo, Tex., October 21st, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of October 14th, asking me to advise you as to 
the satisfaction that the Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe is giv- 



70 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ing which you furnished some time since, would say that it is very satisfactory; 
it is carrying 120 pounds pressure ; the breaks are very few and are confined 
to defective pipe joints ; the annual cost of repairs is nominal ; present con- 
dition of the pipe, good, and as to the economy of lead and labor in laying, it 
is economical. Its internal condition, with reference to cleanliness, is good 
and has no effect on the water. We have no cast-iron pipe in our distribu- 
tion system. 

(Signed) A. L. McLane, Pres. and Supt. 



LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO. 

Aoua Pura Company, ) 

Las Vega s,~ New Mex., Nov. 7th, 1892. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have about 2,000 feet of your Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein 
Pipe in our system, which is in use near our reservoir, and it has never given 
us any trouble. 

(Signed) F. H. PIERCE, Supt. 



LEADVILLE, COLORADO. 

LEADViEEE, Coi,., Jan. 19th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours at hand. In reply will say the Kalamein pipe has given us splen- 
did satisfaction. On account of freight rates it is a saving in first cost over 
cast-iron pipe, aside from that it is lighter to handle and less expensive to 
lay, takes less lead, less liable to breakage and does not rust like cast-iron 
pipe. I think it creates much less friction, and I think stands the frost 
better, and has given us good service in shifting ground ; that is, ground 
that has been undermined and is shifting more or less. 

(Signed) C. N. Priddy, Sec'y. and Supt., 

Leadville Water Co. 



LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN. 

,} 



Ludington Water Suppey Co. 
Ludington, Mich., Oct. 25th, 189 



National Tube Works Co. 

Your inquiry regarding the Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein water 
pipe, which you furnished, is received. The pipe you furnished was placed 
in a water-way where no internal pressure was required or used. I will add, 
that the pipe pleased us very much and if we were to put in pipe we should 
certainly take that kind. The joints fitted with such perfection. We re- 
quired strength to withstand outside pressure rather than inside and resist- 
ance to bending. 

(Signed) Ludington Water Suppey Co., 

By C. G. Wing, Prest. 



WROUGHT IRON MAINS WILL LAST ioo YEARS. 71 



LONDON, CANADA. 

The City Gas Company, \ 
London, Canada, July 17th, 1894. / 

H. IV. Bishop, Esq., National Tube Works Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

In response to your letter of the 10th inst., asking for my opinion on the 
use of wrought iron pipe for the main system of gas companies supplying 
illuminating gas, I have pleasure in submitting the following : 

This Company was this spring under the necessity of renewing a con- 
siderable portion of their old main system, which was of great variety, con- 
sisting partially of wood mains, cast iron mains and other mains which had 
outgrown their usefulness. 

After careful deliberation and inquiry, I came to the conclusion that 
wrought iron or steel pipe as now made for natural gas lines, being almost as 
thick as cast iron pipe, subjected to an enormous test pressure, and having 
absolutely gas tight couplings, was the pipe that I would use in our renewal 
work. 

I have laid this spring some 65,000 feet of 4/' wrought steel pipe in the 
renewals spoken of, and I know that every foot is gas tight, and will remain 
so permanently, being entirely different to a cast iron main system in this 
respect. As to the durability of wrought iron or steel mains in comparison 
to cast iron, I may say that some months ago I took up wood pipe which had 
been in the ground 23 years, and which was in as good a state of preservation 
as the day it was put in. This wood pipe had been well pitched and covered 
with sawdust, and taking advantage of this knowledge, I thoroughly pitched 
and covered with sawdust all the pipe which I laid this season, and I would 
wager that wrought iron mains treated in this manner will last a hundred 
years. I may say that in order to give the mains a proper and even covering 
of pitch I constructed a pitching box heated by steam coil in which were 
rollers so constructed as to lift up the pitch and spread it evenly over the 
tubing as it revolved between the rollers. 

The tubing was steam tested before going on to these rollers, and the 
heat left in the pipes after steaming made them of the right temperature to 
receive their coat of pitch. 

After this the tubing was well rolled in sawdust, which completed the 
process. 

I dwell at length on this process, as if durability be the only objection 
against wrought iron pipe, such objection can be obviated at small cost. In 
laying these mains I used specials at street intersections having 5" lead 
joints, in order to allow for expansion and contraction, and for all services, 
used saddle clamps having a lead washer. 

Care was observed in seeing that at all such joints the pitch was scraped 
from the main, otherwise the gas would cut same and allow leakage. 

A great advantage of using wrought mains is the rapidity of laying and 
ease of handling as compared with cast iron pipe. 

In brief, I would not go back to cast iron pipe for gas mains, especially 
of the small sizes, under any consideration. 

(Signed) Wm. Duffiedd, President, 

City Gas Company 



72 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



LONGMOJSTT, COLORADO. 

Last Saturday morning the editor of this paper accepted an invitation 
to visit the water works. The party consisted of W. F. Watrous, Abner 
Loomis, and H. P. Handy, of Fort Collins ; J. H. McKee and George N. 
Riley, representing the National Tube Works Company ; Mayor Dickson, 
Aldermen Butler, Beasley and Barb, and the editor of the Ledger. The 
gentlemen from Fort Collins came as a special committee, appointed by the 
common council of that city to examine the system of water works adopted 
by our own city government, for the purpose of ascertaining if the same 
plan would be worthy of adoption at Fort Collins. 

The whole forenoon was given up to a thorough examination of our 
water works, and it is pleasant to be able to state, through the columns of 
the Ledger, that each of our visitors was perfectly enthusiastic in praise of 
the excellent work being done. Engineer Handy declared that when com- 
pleted, Longmont would have a perfect system of water works. They pro- 
nounced the pipe equal to any they had ever seen, and the method of join- 
ing and packing the joints as leaving nothing to be desired. 

The Fort Collins party, accompanied by McKee and Riley, left on the 
two o'clock narrow gauge train for Denver on their way to Salida, where 
our system of water works is now in practical operation. While there they 
were furnished with an exhibition of what it will do for them in case of a 
fire. This fire test was entirely satisfactory. Although they have only 160 
feet fall at Salida, they threw two streams from the same hydrant ioo feet 
in height. They then turned the streams horizontally, and easily threw 
them 130 feet. 

On their return the party stopped at Canon City, and examined the 
system of water works adopted in that place. The cast-iron pipe is in use 
there, but they intend to enlarge the capacity of their works, and will use 
the same kind of wrought iron pipe which is being put down here in Long- 
niont. What they saw during their trip satisfied our Fort Collins visitors 
that they cannot improve upon our plan, and they will recommend the 
adoption of it by the Common Council of Fort Collins. — Longmont {Col.) 
Ledger, October 27th, 1882. 



The pipe used is what is known as the Special Lap-Welded Wrought 
Iron Converse Joint Pipe, manufactured by the National Tube Works Com- 
pany, McKeesport, Pa. This pipe is coated within and without with as- 
phaltum, and is said to be superior to cast-iron for strength and durability. 
The former needs no further proof than the fact that it was capable to endure 
sufficient pressure to throw a stream of water from an ordinary hose with 
an inch nozzle more than twenty feet above the top of the liberty pole on 
the corner of Main Street and Third Avenue, a height more than thirty feet 
above any building in our town. — Longmont (Cot.) Press, December 9, 1882. 

Longmont can now boast of about the best water works of any town in 
the State. The system makes the town the best protected against fire of 
any in Colorado. — Longmont (Col.) Daily Tribune, December 12, 1S82. 



THE BEST WATER WORKS IN THE STATE. 73 

LongmonT, Coi,. , January 18, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I am directed by the Board of Trustees of this town to express to you 
our satisfaction with the Special Light Lap-welded Wrought Iron pipe, 
fitted with the Converse Patent Lock Joint furnished by you for our water 
works. 

In all of our more than twelve miles of pipes laid, with but two 
exceptions, we have found them to be as recommended ; while in the joints, 
what few leaks were found — and few they were, indeed — are chargeable to 
our own workmen, and are no fault of your company. We consider the 
Converse Joint to be a superior one, as it takes so little lead to make a good 
joint ; and on rny own part I wish to say that we are highly pleased with 
the pipe furnished by you. 

We are satisfied it will stand the pressure guaranteed. In putting 
service pipe into one of our mills a short time since, we tested the pressure 
and found it to be one hundred and twenty-five pounds to the square inch. 

All of our citizens — croakers and all — say we have the best water works 
in the State, and they are all taking water as fast as service pipes can be put 
down. 

The coating of asphaltum on the inside as well as outside renders the 
water at our hydrants as pure and tasteless as when received at the 
riverside. 

I hope we shall continue to be as well pleased as now, both with the 
pipe and our dealings. 

(Signed) L. H. Dickson, Mayor. 



LongmonT, Coi,., February 23, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor just received. In answer would say that just at this time I 
am unable to give correct figures on expense for maintenance for the year 
just ending. Our fiscal year ends March 31. At the present writing, how- 
ever, I can give you a very good idea of the cost from April 1st, 1884, to 
date. We have had only nine joints leak in the twelve miles of your pipe 
that we have in use ; the cost of repairs was $18. 

(Signed) N. 1$. Varney, Superintendent. 



In the report of the Supt. of Water Works, March 31st, 1885, 
Supt. N. E. Varney shows the very prosperous and successful 
condition of the system, and reports that up to date but $12.05 
has been expended to repair leaks. 

Supt. Varney writes: 



74 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Longmont, Coi,., April 4, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I mail with this a copy of the Ledger, containing my annual report. I 
think you will find the showing as regards joint leaks and general results 
very satisfactory. It certainly is to us. 

(Signed) N. E. Varney, Supt. Water Works. 



George W. Brown, the present Supt. of the Longmont Water 

Works, wrote as follows in answer to an inquiry regarding his 

experience with Converse Joint Pipe : 

LongmonT, Coiy. , Dec. 16th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your request for facts and definite information in regard to 
our water works system, the pipe we have in use and its condition at the 
present time, I would reply as follows, viz : 

I have had entire charge of the water works in this city for several 
years, and am fully conversant with its present condition. The works were 
built in 1882 , and we now have about 16 miles of mains ; the larger amount 
of it was laid in 1882, and was manufactured by the National Tube Works 
Company. It was plain wrought iron pipe, coated with asphaltum. 

We have extended our mains each year since, and all our extensions 
have been furnished by the National Tube Works Company, through their 
agents in Denver. They furnished our department with their " Kalamein " 
pipe in 1885, 1886, 1887, 1S88 and 1S89. 

I consider this an improvement over the original plain asphalted pipe. 
An examination made at the present time shows our mains to be in strictly 
first-class condition, as you can readily see when I tell you that during the pres- 
ent year (18S9) we have only had six leaks (in the entire sixteen miles) which 
have been repaired at a total cost of not exceeding six dollars. Our repair 
account for 188S was only $10. I would also say in this connection that our 
entire expenses for repairs on our whole system during the last five years 
will not exceed $50. We have only had one break since the works were 
put in service ; we have not yet had occasion to take up a single length, a 
record you will find hard to beat in any system of water works, with sixteen 
miles of pipe in use, and it speaks well for the material used. 

We have in parts of our system soil very strongly impregnated with 
minerals and alkali, including two very bad swamps, through which we 
carry our mains from reservoir to city distribution. I can truly say that our 
works have been a great success, and that I can conscientiously say that 
our experience here in the use of the National Tube Works Co.'s pipe has 
been satisfactory and our selection of it, and its continued use and purchase 
from year to year fully justified. 

I have never had any personal experience whatever in the use of cast- 
iron pipe, but theoretically it is considered a satisfactory pipe, but I believe 
none but heavy weight pipe shoidd be used, a fact not to be overlooked in 
buying that kind of pipe, on account of its brittle nature, and consequent 
liability to break under the severe strains caused by air pockets and water 
hammer. The "National" pipe is much stronger, and is more reliable in 
this respect. I am thoroughly convinced that Kalamein pipe will carry 



CONVERSE JOINTS UNIMPAIRED BY FLOOD. 75 

much more water (size for size) than any other style of pipe now on the 
market — quite an important item in a water system. 

Another thing I note in examining the interior of our mains is its clean 
condition and freedom from the formation of tubercles or incrustations so 
common in cast pipe. We have no trouble in making connections for ser- 
vice ; can do so quickly with pressure on the mains. 

Our system has a great many dead ends, which cause many a severe 
strain by the water hammer on our pipe. Avoid dead ends all possible. 

We have 394 consumers ; our pressure is from 52 to 135 pounds per 
square inch. 

I would take great pleasure in showing you what I think is a first-class 
pipe distribution, here in this city. 

Trusting this information may be of service to you, I am 

(Signed) George W. Brown, Supt. 



LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. 

Los Angei.ES, Cai,., Nov. 26, 1S80. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Absence from the city since receiving yours dated Sept. 27, occasioned 
this tardy reply. 

On inspection of your joint, the following conclusions arrived : The 
design excels any sleeve joint I have ever seen in economizing lead. The 
centering at the shoulder of annular space serves a double purpose, viz.: 
No yarn being required for centering pipe, and preventing lead entering 
around end, if judgment be exercised in regulating temperature of same, as 
to allow congealing of lead to take place on reaching this point. This fea- 
ture effects a saving of about one-fourth the labor on a joint (completed). 
The device for resisting lateral strains in pulling apart, looks proportional in 
strength, and possesses advantages that claim its adoption for mining pur- 
poses, and where laid on made ground or over bridges. The laying requires 
no more skill than required for screwing pipe together, as the lead is in 
contact all around with the iron so that but slight calking is required. 
(Signed) Fred Eaton, Supt., 

L. A. C. Water Co. 



LOS DELICIOS, SONORA, MEXICO. 

Los Dewcios Sonora, Mexico, \ 
St. Helena Gold Mine, August 3, 1S83. J 

National Tube Works Co. 

It gives me pleasure to state to you that I have put in use four miles of 
two-inch tubing with your Patent Converse Joint and given the whole pipe 
line an exceedingly severe test. I am using it to bring water from a moun- 
tain spring four miles up a rocky canon, at an elevation of 326 feet above the 
mine. This canon is throughout very precipitous and rugged, with steep 
rocky sides that made it impracticable to protect the pipe well, and it was 
necessary to cross and re-cross the canon many times. Once this year in 
our heavy rains, drift wood and rubbish were washed down against the pipe, 
forming a strong dam, and the water raised over five feet in depth behind it, 



76 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



but notwithstanding this the pipe was not severed. I believe that ordinary 
two-inch gas pipe would have had the threads stripped under like circum- 
stances. Since putting in the pipe, several months ago, it has scarcely cost 
anything for attendance or repairs, and I consider it a permanently good 
job. 

I have also on hand 600 feet of your six-inch tubing, with the same Con- 
verse Joints, which I shall put down our main shaft to conduct compressed 
air to the underground workings, and am confident of its giving me satisfac- 
tion. 

One of the greatest advantages of your tubing with Converse Joint is its 
lightness, which recommends it highly for a country like this, where trans- 
portation is so expensive. 

For permanent pipe line I must heartily recommend the Converse Joint 
pipe as being cheap, easily laid and durable, and I take pleasure in endors- 
ing its use for many purposes about mines. 

(Signed) E. E. OiXOTT, Supt. 



MAMAEONECK, NEW YORK. 

Mamaroneck, Westchester County, I 
New York, June 20th, 1884. J 
National Tube U r orks Co. 

In regard to the five miles of Kalamein Converse Lock Joint pipe you 
furnished for the Mamaroneck Water Works Company, I would state that 
I find the pipe in every respect equal to what you represent it to be, and in 
point of economy in laying we have saved at least 40 per cent, because all 
our digging was through solid rock, and had to be drilled with steam drills 
and then blasted. We could not get a perfect^ straight ditch, so that if we 
had been laying cast-iron pipe we would have been obliged to put on men 
with hand drills and straighten the ditch. Your pipe being wrought iron, 
we had no trouble to bend it to any angle required. Another advantage I 
find in using your pipe is that the only special castings required to put in a 
complete water or gas system are T's and crosses ; all the other angles can 
be bent up to forty-five degrees. In bending a forty-five degree angle you 
can do it easily by taking two lengths of pipe, which will give you a long 
bend, and the friction will be little or no greater than it is on the straight 
pipe. 

I would state further that 4,000 feet of this pipe was laid through salt 
meadows overflowed by tide water. I have examined this pipe, and find 
that the salt water does not affect it in the least. I think it would have 
been dangerous to have used cast-iron pipe in constructing these works, for 
the following reasons : The stream from which the water is taken is sur- 
rounded with trees and underbrush, consequently in the fall we have a large 
deposit of leaves and vegetable matter. As everyone knows, cast-iron is of 
a spongy, porous nature, readily absorbing and retaining a certain amount 
of this poisonous scum, which mixes with the water circulating through the 
pipes throughout the year ; your pipe having a smooth, close surface, 
will never absorb any deleterious matter. 

(Signed) T. Shei/Ton, Constructing Engineer. 



ALWAYS TO BE DEPENDED UPON. 77 

MANDAN, DAKOTA. 

Mandan, Dak., Jan. 28th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of Jan. 20th, 1889, to Supt. of our water works at hand. I do 
not know of whom the pipes were bought, but they have given first-rate 
satisfaction ; have never been repaired in any way, and always answered to 
the call when occasion required. We put in a new hydrant a short time 
since, and the pipe appears as good as new. 

(Signed) E. C. RiCE, Chief Fire Department. 



MANISTEE, MICHIGAN. 

Manistee, Mich., July 3, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

From the knowledge that we have of your water pipe, we believe it will 
do good service and prove to be all that we could desire. 

(Signed) R. G. PETERS, 

By H. Carey. 

MANKATO, MINNESOTA. 

Office of City Engineer, \ 
Mankato, Minn., Nov 4, 1892. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

To your inquiry of October 20th, relating to your Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Kalamein pipe in use here, would say that we have 2,200 feet from 
what we call "the sand well " to our pumping station. It only serves to 
bring the water to the station and a mill for use of boilers. There is no 
pressure except nominal. It is giving good satisfaction. 

(Signed) M. B. HaynES, City Eng. 



McKEESPOBT, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Some years ago we furnished a little pipe, asphalted only, 
and I think a little Kalamein only, to the city of McKeesport, 
for extensions on some of the back streets. 

The superintendent of the water works has always been a 
very prejudiced person, because, I presume, the largest wrought 
iron pipe works in the world paid nearly all the city taxes, made 
his property valuable, and turned a one-horse, antiquated, old- 
fashioned, sleepy coal town into one of the most flourishing 
western cities. 

As bad news travels fast, and is not discriminating in point 
of truthfulness, special mention is made in this edition of F. A. P. 
of this McKeesport circumstance, so that if any controversy 
about defective pipe arises in the future any salesman or depart- 



78 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ment will have the facts at hand with which to controvert such 
trashy inaccuracies. 

The following are the facts: 

For the last two or three years the water in both the 
Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers has been exceedingly 
low. The mining of coal has been resumed in very extensive pro- 
portions, and the draining of the various coal mines for miles along 
the Youghiogheny River into that beautiful stream, and the 
drainage of other mines along the Monongahela into that large 
river, has so impregnated the water as to render it, along the 
shores, a mild solution of sulphuric acid, and we all know that 
sulphuric acid is most effective as an iron or metal destroyer 
when in mild solution. The boilers, pumps, and other machinery 
along these streams have been fast wearing out. The B. and 
O. road and the Lake Erie road have been obliged to go to the 
mountains for pure water. We have been obliged to furnish a 
locomotive to the Lake Erie road for switching purposes, as all 
of their locomotives were incapacitated by failure of their tubes, 
owing to this acid water. 

A clipping from the Commercial Gazette, of November 14, 
1S92, reads: 

STRUCK AGAIN. 
McKeesport has another Water Famine, and the Situation is 

Serious. 

The water department is literally of no use. Another break occurred 
yesterday morning which has compelled the water works to shut down. 
The city is entirely without protection in event of fire, to say nothing of the 
loss, damage and inconvenience that must follow to the manufacturers and 
people in general. The situation is officially summed up as follows : 

Both sets of pumps at the water works are broken. 

One set of boilers is condemned. 

The reserve sets, the only ones left, are so eaten by acids in the river 
water as to make their use hazardous in the extreme. 

At present some water is being forced by power from the National Tube 
Works. 

The reservoir, in which the stock on hand is supposed to tide over such 
emergency, is practically empty and in most places there is no water to be 
had from the city mains. 

The worst of the case is that there seems to be no remedy short of the 
expenditure of much money and a complete renovation of the entire system. 

From this it will be observed that all parts of the water 
works are impaired through the acidity of the water which is 
taken from the Youghiogheny River, with which to supply the 
town. 



OUR SYSTEM PREVENTS A GREAT CONFLAGRATION. 79 

Here see the " Head-lines " and a digest of a clipping from 
the Pittsburgh Post of this morning — November 15, 1892. The 
same article appears in all the other papers and refers to a fire 
which broke out in McKeesport yesterday (after the publication 
of the article in the Commercial Gazette above noted), and which 
bid fair to burn out the entire southern portion of the city, and 
it is claimed would have destroyed that portion of McKeesport 
had it not been for the National Tube Works Co. putting on 
their immense pumps to the City system and thus supplying 
sufficient water with which to extinguish the flames. 

It is a matter of no insignificance — in fact it is a significant 
fact — that the system of the National Tube Works is wrought 
iron pipe, thoroughly in good condition, and totally unimpaired, 
although much older than the McKeesport system, while this 
latter system is all cast iron with the exception of a few trivial 
hundred feet of some of the National Tube Works Company's 
pipe in one or two of the back streets. Here is the piece in the 
paper. The article devotes a column to the report of this fire : 

THEIR WARNING. 

An entire block of McKeesport dwellings swept by fire last 
evening. Not a drop of water to be had from the City 
system. Action of the National Tube Works officials averts 
a general disaster. 

* * * When an effort was made to turn the water on, it was discov- 
ered that the reservoir was dry and not a drop of water could be had. In 
the mean time the fire was raging at a terrible rate and had communicated 
to several other buildings adjoining the store. Messengers were at once 
dispatched to the National Tube Works asking that their volunteer depart- 
ment render assistance. Realizing the danger to the city the officials ordered 
a general suspension of work, and that the entire water supply be turned 
into the tweleve- inch main leading to the city supply. For a time it looked 
as though the entire city was doomed to destruction. The McKeesport de- 
partment, assisted by the firemen from the National Tube Works set to work 
tearing down frame buildings, with the intention of preventing a further 
progress of the fire. 

IT WAS A MEMORABLE DAY. 

At no time in the history of McKeesport was excitement so great, as the 
residents believed that the city must burn to the ground. * 

We will not take up further time with this story, but sum- 
marize as follows: 

The few feet of wrought iron pipe which is attached to the 
grand (?) McKeesport city system is in as good condition as any 



80 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



of the cast iron pipe ; the entire system, however, is not in first- 
class condition by any means. 

The system of the National Tube Works Co., is in prime 
condition, although much older than the town system. The 
wrought iron system steps in and saves the cast iron system from 
disaster. This is what the report shows, and we therefore leave 
this case to stand for itself on the records, in case our competi- 
tors should advance the idea that there had been any trouble 
with the pipe in the system of the city in which the great works 
of the National Tube Works Co. are located. 



McKeesport, Pa. , had a very narrow escape on Monday from a serious 
conflagration. As the city was without water, the pumps at the water works 
having given out early in the day, and the river over five blocks away, 
nothing could be done to check it. After ten houses had been consumed the 
National Tube Works Co. came to the rescue by pumping water into the 
city mains from their works, thus enabling the firemen to bring three lines 
of hose to play upon the furious flames. With the assistance of citizens a 
number of houses were torn down and after a hard struggle the firemen 
succeeded in checking the flames. Had it not been for the assistance of 
the National Tube Works at least three or four blocks would have been in 
ashes before midnight. The loss is variously estimated at from $30,000 to 
$60,000. Insurance small. — Fire and Water, November 19, 1892. 



When Winter Comes, a Citizen Says There Wiee Be a Generae 
Bursting oe Water-Eaten Pipes. 
A citizen said to-day concerning the water question: "The way the 
water is eating the pipes in houses just now suggests to me that when winter 
sets in the pipes will be in such bad condition that the cold weather will 
cause them to break generally, and the houses will be flooded. An entire 
new system of pipes will have to be put in, entailing great expense." — ■ 
McKeesport Times of Sept. 21st, 1894. 



MISHAWAKA, INDIANA. 

We will herein present a short history of the opposition we 
have met with on the part of certain cast-iron pipe manufacturers 
who virtually formed a " Cast-iron Syndicate " and used every 
means within their power to injure the reputation of our pipe and 
prevent us in every possible case from placing orders for Con- 
verse Lock Joint Pipe. 

Whenever we have encountered this underhanded warfare we 
have insisted upon an equitable hearing, and when this has been 
granted have always refuted the libellous attacks of our cast-iron 
pipe competitors and proven our just claims. 



UNFAIR METHODS EXPOSED. 81 

We will now present the particulars of one of these cases 
where we were assailed by the cast-iron pipe men, viz. : at Mish- 
awaka, Indiana. This city was in the market for a quantity of 
water pipe ; our Chicago branch house presented bids in regular 
form, and, learning that the cast-iron fraternity were about to 
pursue their usual tactics, assigned their water works depart- 
ment salesman, Mr. A. J. Guilford, to the task of personally 
attending to the matter. 

Before connecting himself with our Company, Mr. Guilford 
was for years employed as an expert by prominent cast-iron 
foundries, in all matters pertaining to the water works business; 
he is thoroughly acquainted with the results attained by the use 
of cast-iron pipe generally and the methods adopted by the Cast- 
iron Syndicate since they first combined to antagonize Converse 
Lock Joint Pipe and use desperate means to prevent its use. He 
is consequently fully conversant with the merits of Converse 
Lock Joint Pipe and its successful introduction and extensive 
adoption in the face of the unfair opposition it has encountered 
from the cast-iron combination. 

The following introductory matter will be found useful as 
reference, when following the able arguments which Mr. Guilford 
presented to the city officials of Mishawaka, the result being 
another decisive victory for Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 



Office of James R. Maxwell, Consulting Engineer, ) 
Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 15, 1890. j 

Mr. A. J. Guilford, Chicago, III. 

On my arrival here this morning I found the Addyston people waiting 
forme, armed with a letter from Prentice, stating that the "letting" had 
been postponed, and that the Kalamein pipe was probably " knocked out," 
and that their Company could not supply the pipe, suggesting that the 
Addyston people look after it. 

If the above will do you any good, you are welcome to it. 

(Signed) Jas. R. Maxwell. 



Chicago, Oct. 20, 1890. 
A.J. Guilford, Esq., City. 

I am requested by Mr. Allen T. Prentice, General Western Agent of the 
Mathews Hydrant, manufactured by R. D. Wood & Co., of Philadelphia, to 
state to you that he would like to make a compromise or an arrangement 
with you by which, as he expressed it, he can ' ' maintain his rights and the 
rights of the Mathews Hydrant in the approaching letting for a new water 
works system for Mishawaka, Indiana." 

He states " that his firm are not in a position to figure on the furnishing 
of the pipe ; neither could they undertake the construction of a complete 



82 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



system of distribution ; that he will, if you will make a combination with 
him by which you agree to use the Mathews Hydrants, do everything in his 
power to assist you to secure the contract for your Kalamein pipe and also 
the Tudlow valves. ' ' He says ' ' that he cares nothing for the valves or pipe 
for his firm, but is very anxious," as I stated before, "to maintain their 
rights as regards the hydrants." 

I do not know as you are in any position, or would have any disposition 
to make an alliance with this Mr. Prentice as against the Mishawaka Water 
Works people, or against the interest of your employers. However, at his 
request I write you this letter. He states ' ' that he will see you in Mishawaka 
on the day of the letting, and will endeavor to make some arrangements 
with you by which he can maintain those rights which," he claims, " are his." 

Having complied with his request, I now leave the matter in your hands. 
(Signed) H. E. KEENER. 

The record will show that Mr. Guilford did not make any 
alliance with " this man " Prentice. 

The following is a copy of page 5 of the publication of the 
Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Co. 

Newport, Ky., 1885. 

The Company, in offering this book, does not wish to convey the idea 
that it contains everything relative to either gas or water pipe. It is pre- 
sented with the hope that the information contained may, as far as it goes, 
be serviceable to those using castings of this character or others of our manu- 
facture. 

We desire to render credit to the following named hydraulic engineers 
for many of the tables and much of the information herein contained: Jno. 
W. Rutherford, Jno. W. Hill, J. D. Cook, G. A. Ellis and A. H. Howland. 

Also to the following engineering works which we consulted during the 
compilation of the book: Humber, Fanning, Haswell, Trautwine, Moles- 
worth and Box. 

We trust that this publication may meet the wants of those for whose 
benefit it was compiled. 

The Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Co. 



Additional extracts from the publication of the Cincinnati 
and Newport Iron and Pipe Co.'s publication of 1885, page 8 : 

Wrought iron has been found to corrode much more rapidly 
than cast iron ones. ~ ;: ~ * * 

A new conduit for water, called " Kalamein Pipe," has recently been 
brought before the public. It is claimed for this pipe that the corrosion 
therein is less than in cast iron pipe; but tests made by the American Water 
Works Association show that the corrosion is excessive in this pipe, and that 
there is little or none in coated cast-iron. 

From further tests the above mentioned Association have concluded that 
the " Kalamein Pipe " is not a suitable carrier for water. 

In corroded pipes Darcey found the friction to be twice as great as in 
smooth iron ones. This, in connection with the difficulty of making ex- 



UNFAIR METHODS EXPOSED. 83 



tensions with any of those substitutes, or of tapping them for domestic pur- 
poses, has made the use of them very limited. 

We can not recall a single instance where any city has discarded the 
use of cast-iron pipe for any of those inferior substitutes ; but instances can 
be multiplied where pipes of other material have been taken up to be re- 
placed by those of cast-iron. 

* * New York, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Louisville, Philadelphia, Toledo, 
Pittsburg, Cleveland, Buffalo, New Orleans, Memphis, Atlanta, Columbus, 
Milwaukee, St. Louis, and all the cities where engineers are employed in 
their water departments, use nothing but cast-iron water pipe. The late 
Hon. A. W. Craven, formerly Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct 
Department, New York, says : "In cast-iron you are dealing with a certainty. 
" * I do not consider it true economy to use any known substitute in any 
portion of the distribution of a town." * * 



Extracts from the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company's book 
of 1890, page 9 : 

The excellent results obtained by the coating used on cast pipes sug- 
gested the idea that wrought pipe coated in the same manner might be 
correspondingly protected. In practice, however, it was found that the 
polished surface formed on the wrought pipe by passing the plates from 
which the}' were made, through the rolls, prevented this or other coatings 
from clinging tightly to the pipe, and soon caused the abandonment of pipe 
so coated for use as water mains. In the face of these results, however, 
attempts are now being made to sell, for underground conduits, spirally 
welded wrought pipe of extremely thin metal, the life of which depends on 
the protection afforded by a coating similar to this. 

Kalamein Pipe. — Owing to the high price of tin its use as a preventive 
of rusting in wrought-iron water pipe has not been feasible, and many 
attempts have been made to form a cheaper coating by alloying tin with 
lead or other cheaper metals. On November 16, 1880, an alloy (page 10) 
for coating iron was patented, the proportions of its ingredients being about 
as follows : 

Lead 53-93 per cent. 

Zinc 32.00 " " 

Tin ,....14.00 " " 

Nickel 07 " " 

100.00 
By this process, which is called Kalarneiuing, the inventor is able to 
use a large quantity of lead in combination with zinc, tin and nickel, to 
form an alloy for coating. On June 10th and October 7th, 1884, patents 
were also issued in which the percentage of lead was still further 
increased to from 60 to 80 per cent., slight changes made in the other in- 
gredients of the alloy, and a fraction of one per cent, of copper added. 
Wrought pipe coated with this alloy is called " Kalamein Pipe." The large 
percentage of lead in this pipe has caused great objection to its use, owing 
to the fear that water passing through it might become contaminated, thus 
causing lead poisoning. 



84 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The danger from this cause is not fancied, for in Massachusetts alone 
there are many authenticated cases in numerous towns and cities of persons 
becoming lead-poisoned by drinking water which had passed through lead 
pipes. (See Massachusetts Board of Health Report, 1871). 

This pipe is also extremely thin ; a ten-inch pipe, for example, is but 
slightly over one-eighth of an inch thick, while the ordinary standard 
wrought pipe is about one third of an inch, and cast-iron water pipe nine- 
sixteenths of an inch in thickness Owing to its extreme thinness the life 
of Kalamein Pipe must indeed be short, if its coating is not indestructible. 
The tests made by Professor Charles O. Thompson, of the Rose Polytechnic 
Institute, for the American Water Works Association, and the trouble which 
several cities have already experienced in its use, throw grave doubt on the 
protection afforded by this coating. We understand that, in spite of the 
alleged indestructibility of this Kalamein coating, a still further protection 
is now given this pipe by coating it with tar and asphalt, but for reasons 
already pointed out, it is not probable that this coating can add much to the 
life of this pipe. 

Page 11. 

-x- -x- The claim made for all these pipes is their small cost in com- 
parison with those of cast-iron. Their first cost is somewhat less ; biit with 
all due deference to the manufacturers of these different compositions, this 
is the most that can be said in their favor. 

For further "screeds" see remainder of page, and also 
pages 12, 13, and 14 of this publication. 

Page 3. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 1890. 

The Company, in offering this book, does not wish to convey the idea 
that it contains everything relative to either gas or water pipe. It is pre- 
sented with the hope that the information contained may, as far as it goes, 
be serviceable to those using castings of this character or others of our 
manufacture. 

We desire to render credit to the following named hydraulic and civil 
engineers for many of the tables and much of the information herein con- 
tained : Jno. W. Rutherford, Juo. W. Hill, J. D. Cook ; also to G. A. Ellis 
and A. H. Howland for tables of " Flow of Water in Pipes." 

Also to the following engineering works which we consulted during the 
compilation of the book : Humber, Fanning, Haswell, Trautwine, Moles- 
worth and Box. 

We trust that the publication may meet the wants of those for whose 
benefit it is compiled. 

The Addyston Pipe and Steed Company. 



ON THE SIDE. 



Guilford : Yes, Gentlemen, and I want to say right here that this 
gentleman (?), this Mr. Kebler, representing the Addyston Pipe and Steel 
Company, and who has been posing before you as a celebrated (?) chemist — 



UNFAIR METHODS EXPOSED. 85 

I say that if he has been doing in Mishawaka the same as has been done in 
other cities, he has been going around with a bottle of nitric acid in one 
hand and a piece of wrought iron in the other and endeavoring to convince 
an intelligent community that nitric acid will eat wrought iron. Yes, sir ; 
nor is that all, for this celebrated chemist, in doing THAT, performs what he, 
as a professional chemist, calls a chemical analysis. 

(Snyder interrupts and asks a question.) 

Guilford (continuing) : In reply to that, I would say that I had always 
supposed that a chemical analysis was something that was done for (in this 
instance) the purpose of ascertaining of what ingredients a certain article 
was composed, but this Mr. Kebler, who has been posing before you as the 
celebrated chemist of the celebrated Addyston Pipe and Steel Company, 
simply places a piece of wrought iron in a proper receptacle, puts acid upon 
it for the purpose of demonstrating to intelligent people that nitric acid 
will eat wrought iron, and then this chemist (?), this scientific (?) man, says 
that the act was really a chemical analysis, whereas it was simply a test. 
Gentlemen, I leave Mr. Kebler in your hands. 

Kebler : I never did any such thing here, or at any other place. 

Guilford : I did not say that you did it here, but I did say that if you 
had done at Mishawaka the same as you had done in other places, that you 
had been going around town with a bottle of nitric acid in one hand and 
a piece of wrought iron in the other, and by pouring acid upon a piece of 
wrought iron endeavored to impress upon the minds of intelligent people 
that nitric acid would really eat wrought iron, and that you called such a 
test a chemical analysis ! And not only that. Instead of taking around 
with you a hub and spigot end of your pipe — not a sample prepared for the 
occasion, all nicely turned up in a lathe so as to show a perfect joint, but a 
sample of pipe such as is shipped from your foundry — you had made, or 
caused to be made, a drawing of the hub and spigot ends, and claimed that 
your pipe formed just as flush and smooth a connection at the joint as could 
be done with your draughtsman's drawing pen ! That is what I claim, and 
it also is susceptible of proof. 

(Snyder interrupts again and makes a statement.) 

Guilford (continuing) : In reply to that, I would say that it is a fair 
specimen of first-class "truth-twisting." 

(Kebler laughs and interrupts.) 

Guilford (continuing) : And, so far as your statement is concerned, 
Mr. Kebler, if it cannot be called "truth-twisting," it does show that you 
are a very careful manipulator of words. 

Now, Mr. Kebler, please keep quiet. I know what you don't want, and 
I think that I know what you do want. You don't want to hear me to the 
finish, but you do want to interrupt me so that I cannot finish my remarks 
before it is time for you to take the last electric and skin out for South 
Bend. I want you to remain until I have done, and if you will only keep 
quiet you will find that I have anticipated all of your profound interroga- 
tories, and will have answered them fully before I sit down ; therefore, I 
beg of you to keep quiet, and remain here, and take your little medicine 
like a little man, for you cannot rattle me. 

The truth was, that Kebler had made a test, such as 
described above, and called it "a chemical analysis." He made 



86 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



it in the Dodge M'fg Co.'s office the previous evening, and had 
also exhibited a drawing of the hub and spigot ends of their 
cast-iron pipe, this being done in the presence of Mr. Dodge and 
several other parties, while Mr. H. E. Keeler and Mr. Guilford 
were (as per previous arrangements with Mr. Dodge) seated in the 
rear office for the sole purpose of seeing what Kebler was going 
to do and of hearing what he (Kebler) had to say to the gentle- 
men that were to be present upon his own invitation to them by 
letter and telegraph. Of course, it would not have been right 
for Mr. Guilford to have exposed the matter farther than he did 
(when Kebler denied it), as it would have been very discourteous 
to Mr. Dodge. But he did get Kebler to deny his statement, and 
to make his denial in the presence of the parties who saw him 
make his "chemical analysis," and who saw the drawing (of the 
hub and spigot ends of their pipe) that was exhibited and 
explained by Kebler. 

I think that hereafter when we speak of one of Kebler's 
chemical analysis, we had better suggest that the pipe was 
" Kebler-ised." 



MR. GUILFORD'S SPEECH. 



Gentlemen : — Before proceeding with our side of the ease, I desire to 
say that I have reduced rtiy remarks to writing. It may seem strange to 
you that I should do so, and also cause you to ask the question, " How 
could you do so when you have not heard the remarks of the other gentle- 
men ? " 

To the question I would say that I claim to be conversant not only with 
their manner but also with their methods of attack (having myself served in 
their ranks so long), and I venture the assertion that when I have closed 
you will all agree that I have covered every point made by our so-called 
competitors as against us, and that too without having said one word against 
the goods offered you by our competitors. 

I shall make my statements in a manner that may seem (to you) to be 
in earnest, but I assure you that I shall not do so in a spirit of anger. I 
will also endeavor to entertain you, and I promise that none present will go 
to sleep, nor will their eyelids become heavy or troubled with drowsiness. 

The books, pamphlets and papers on the table before me are simply 
authorities to which I shall refer in case any statements I make are ques- 
tioned, and I assure you that they will not be referred to unless my state- 
ments are questioned. 

The other gentlemen have taken at least two hours of your time, and I 
am certainly entitled to at least one-half as much ; and now, Mr. President and 
gentlemen of the Mishawaka Water Works Company, after having listened 
to the remarks of the gentlemen who have preceded me — remarks so elo- 
quent and spoken with so much earnestness — it might seem to one not con- 



UNFAIR METHODS EXPOSED. 87 



versant with their manner and methods of but little use to reply. However, 
as the glove has fallen at our feet, we pick it up. 

The first gentleman upon whom our encomiums will be lavished is Mr. 
Prentice, representing the Mathews hydrant, manufactured by R. D. Wood 
& Co., of Philadelphia, Pa., and to show you as to what amount, or to what 
extent, his words and statements can be relied upon, I will read you copies 
of his letter as published in the Engineering News after the Huntington, 
Ind., letting in August last, and also a copy of a letter published in the 
same paper a week later, from John W. Hill, the Consulting Engineer for 
the city of Huntington. 

On page 133 of the Engineering News of August 9th, 1890, we find the 
following : 

Huntington, Ind. — Allen T. Prentice, of Chicago, 111., agent for R. D. Wood & Co. 
has sent us the following: " All bids for constructing the new works have been rejected 
being too high. The estimated cost was $95,000. The lowest bid received was $120,000. 

The following week the same paper reproduced the above letter of 
Prentice (August 16th, 1890, page 155) and immediately following it the 
letter of John W. Hill, which is as follows : 

This statement is not correct ; satisfactory proposals were received for all details of 
the Huntington, Ind., water works, excepting pipe laying, and private tenders are now 
being received by the company for this, and when a satisfactory contract can be made for 
pipe laying, all other details will be contracted for under the proposals received at the 
letting, and the construction of the works go forward. The estimated cost was $97,000, 
and the best tenders, including the single proposal for pipe laying, aggregate $109,000. The 
difficulty with the item of pipe laying will be reconciled in due time. 

That is what Mr. John W. Hill has to say in reply to this man Prentice, 
who attacked Mr. Hill because Mr. Hill, as a mechanical expert, had, or 
has, the impudence (from the standpoint of Mr. Prentice) to say that in his 
opinion " there are as good hydrants in the market as those called the 
Mathews," for which Prentice is a salesman, or would-be salesman. And, 
further, at the Van Wert, Ohio, letting, which took place only last week, 
Mr. Hill stated (as I have been informed by those who were present) " that 
the remarks of, and the opposition to him by Prentice, was, in his opinion, 
the real cause of his (Hill) being employed as their engineer." I will refer 
to Mr. Prentice again later on. 

We do not come here and advertise ourselves as public benefactors, and 
thus, while sailing under false colors, advertise that we are willing to give 
you our goods rather than have you use cast-iron pipe. No, gentlemen, the 
reputation of our goods does not warrant us in posing in this manner. We 
come here representing ourselves, and ourselves only, notwithstanding the 
attempt of Mr. Prentice— the attempt which so signally failed, of his desire 
to " maintain his rights " here. What rights has he here that are paramount to 
the rights of any other bidder upon this work ? Does the fact of there being 
some dozen or more Mathews hydrants set in your streets fill his unsophis- 
ticated mind and body from " here to here " with the idea that nothing but 
the Mathews hydrant must go in here ? And that he or they that dare inter- 
fere with his "rights " that he wishes to maintain in Mishawaka, must be 
sat down upon ? Took at him, and answer the question for yourselves. He 
who has uttered hard words about the goods I represent. He who has said 
and insinuated that our goods were worthless and were good for nothing — 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



look at him. He that at your last meeting exhibited, and that for effect, 
as you doubtless noticed, all the beauties of very innocence itself, until I 
showed 3^ou that notwithstanding his statements about the inferiority of our 
goods, with which inferiority he claimed to be so conversant — I repeat it, in- 
feriority with which he was so familiar — yet, notwithstanding all that he 
claimed to know about them, uothwithstandiug their worthless character, 
he was willing, and was so anxious, to assist us in perpetrating a swindle 
upon you, and by so doing perpetrate it upon this community, viz.: " that 
if I would agree to put in the Mathews hydrant here, he would do all in his 
power to help rne get the contract for Kalamein pipe." Prentice denied the 
statements, as well as other statements I made concerning this matter, but 
in every instance I submitted the proofs in writings, and you read them aloud 
in his presence. What do we hear next from the lips of this man Prentice ? 
This : " That this water company will find out that they cannot have every- 
thing their own way, because we are going to take the case before the Coun- 
cil ; we're going to see about it ; we may not get the contract, and why? 
Because the National Tube Works Company has just bought about $2,000 
worth of pulleys from Dodge." 

The fact is, gentlemen, that the venom of our competitors here can be 
likened only as the " field" against the National Tube Works Company. 
Wherever and whenever we go to a letting, and it is thought that we are go- 
ing to make a proposal for furnishing pipe, the " field " are there, all pitted, 
not one against the other in straightforward competition, but all combined, 
and that with but one object in view, that of preventing the National Tube 
Works Company from getting the contract. Gentlemen, such is the fact, 
and there is not one of them here who will deny it, except for the purpose 
of effect. 

I will now remove the obnoxious portion of Mr. Prentice's remains from 
the operating table, where they have been in view, and in as gentle a man- 
ner as possible, consign them to the place they so richly deserve, and in the 
language of the composer of the "Old College Song," will "plant tomb- 
stones at his head and feet," and upon the head-stone shall be delineated a 
Mathews hydrant ; an Eddy valve will be the chief attraction upon the foot- 
stone ; the top of the little mound shall be covered with "our celebrated frost 
jacket," while Kebler, the celebrated chemist, who has been posing before 
you as such, will (let us hope) always be found at the side of the little mound, 
and, with a carboy near at hand, and of sufficient capacity to catch 
and preserve, for a subsequent occasion, his own tears of nitric acid as they 
fall from his sympathizing eyes ; and Snyder, with a spade over his right 
shoulder, walking sadly away, murmuring in tones of sweet discord : 
"And the goblins will catch me, it I don't watch out." 

We cannot chisel the birth-date upon the adjacent shaft, but what would 
answer the purpose would be something like this : 

" In memory of ' my rights' at Mishawaka, Iud., Oct. 23d-24th and Nov. 12th, 1890, 
R. I. P." 

We will now put on the long rubber gloves, place the bandage over our 
nose and endeavor to feel around in the vat and lay our hands upon what 
was, formerly, the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, and 
place it upon the dissecting table. Ah, here it is, but it is clothed in the 
garb of " The Addyston Pipe and Steel Company." 



UNFAIR METHODS EXPOSED. 



I now call your attention to the 2d, 3d, 4th, and also to the 5th, stanzas 
on page 8. Read them : 

Wrought iron has been found to corrode much more rapidly than cast-iron. 

Has any person ever denied that such is the case ? Most emphatically 
I say no, especially those who have investigated the matter. 

A new conduit for water, called Kalamein pipe, has recently been brought before the 
public. It is claimed for this pipe that the corrosion therein is less than in cast-iron pipe 
but tests made by the American Water Works Association shows that the corrosion is 
excessive in this pipe, and that there is little or none in cast- iron. From further tests 
the above-mentioned Association have concluded that the Kalamein pipe is not a suitable 
carrier for water. In corroded pipes Darcey found the friction to be twice as great as 
in smooth ones. 

Upon what appears to be page 5 of this publication is the date, " New- 
port, Ky., 1885," and over the name " Cincinnati and Newport Iron and 
Pipe Company." appears the following : 

We desire to render credit to the following named hydraulic and civil engineers for 
many of the tables and much of the information herein contained : Jno. W. Hill, Jno. W. 
Rutherford, J. D. Cook, G. A. F,llis and A. H. Howland. Also to the following engineering 
works which we consulted during the compilation of the book : Humbet, Fanning, Haswell, 
Trautwine, Molesworth and Box. 

I now call your attention to the publication of the Addyston Pipe and 
Steel Company, under date of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1890, on what would seem 
to be page 3. Upon page 5 the}' state : 

* * * Owns and operates the works formerly known as the Cincinnati and New- 
port Iron and Pipe Company, of Newport, Ky., of which it is the successor. 

Upon page 3 they say (same as in the book of the Cincinnati and New 
port Iron and Pipe Company) that they are indebted to the following named 
engineers for much of the information therein contained, and then follows 
the names of Rutherford, Hill, Cook, Ellis and Howland. Gentlemen, I 
ask you to keep in mind, if possible, their statements before mentioned, as 
I shall very likely refer to them before closing my remarks, and I crave 
your indulgence. They have cited these authorities, and being their own 
witnesses, they must not attempt to impeach them if, upon the cross-exam- 
ination, they prove to be better witnesses for our side of the case. 

I now refer you to pages 7, 8, and to a portion of page 9 of the Addyston 
Pipe and Steel Company's 1890 book, and in these pages I have no doubt 
but that you will find what has been said to be " A very strained effort in 
defense of cast-iron pipe," and in their great effort they cling with " tuber- 
peculiar " tenacity to their report, or to the alleged report of the late Prof. 
Charles O. Thompson, of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, for the American 
Water Works Association. (See page 10 of the Addyston Pipe and Steel 
Company's 1890 book.) 

The matter of "lead poisoning " (that ancient chestnut) comes right in 
— something that has been brought up by men scientific and otherwise, and 
about which so much has been said, and repeated again and again, until the 
water works associations of the country have become disgusted with it, all 
of which could be shown you had I the time and inclination to occupy your 
time by reading the papers I have with me, and also the reports of men 
qualified to speak upon the subject, the reports above referred to being 



90 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



published in the printed proceedings of the water works associations in this 
and in other countries. 

We are informed that this, that and the other city (where water works, 
constructed with our Kalamein pipe, had proved unsatisfactory) had taken 
up Kalamein pipe and replaced it with cast-iron pipe. We deny the asser- 
tion and ask for the proofs, and if any attempt at proof is made, I will ask 
you to note the style of proof offered. If it is in keeping with other attempts 
at proof it will be simply insinuations, cunningly devised and of such an 
ambiguous nature as will be better illustrated by a " three card-monte gang" 
in their "Now you see it and now you don't." 

I will now return to the alleged report of Professor Thompson, and in 
order that our so-called competitors cannot go away and represent in other 
fields that I have endeavored to, or that I succeeded in misleading you, I 
will commence at the beginning, and will be as brief as possible. 

On pages 60, 61 and 62 of the printed proceedings of the American 
Water Works Association held at Cincinnati, Ohio, April 15, 16 and 17, 
1884, we find the following : Read it. 

Gentlemen, you will notice that up to the present time I have not said 
one word to you regarding the merits of cast-iron pipe, and I hope that 
I will not be called upon to do so. I will simply call your atten- 
tion to what Mr. Shefold, of New Albany, Ind., had to say. He says (see 
proceedings above referred to), that in some districts in his city every kind 
of pipe rusts out ; that cast-iron pipe with him lasted for 10 years, while any 
other kind rusted out in 2 or 3 years ; that he thought the better plan would 
be to get reports from the 40 water works that have used this new pipe. 

Does Mr. Shefold say that he knows anything about Kalamein pipe ? 
No, he does not even insinuate that he had ever heard of it before. He did 
show his honesty, however, when he said that cast-iron pipe with bim lasted 
10 years, and again when he suggested that the better plau would be to get 
reports from the 40 water works that have used this new pipe. The motion 
of Mr. Briggs was adopted and the following committee appointed : J. M. 
Carson, Frank Shefold and H. G. Holden. What next ? Mr. Briggs secures, 
through an agency for cast-iron pipe, what is supposed to be a sample of 
Kalamein pipe as was then manufactured by the National Tube Works 
Company, and from the alleged report of Prof. Thompson, which appears on 
pages 215 and 216 of the printed proceedings of the American Water Works 
Association, the meeting being the 5th annual, I quote from the first 
paragraph : 

J. G. Briggs, Esq., Supt. of Terre Haute Water Works, submitted to me on June iotli, 
1884, a piece of new water pipe 3 inches long. 

Gentlemen, please follow me closely and see the bold attempt at decep- 
tion that characterizes the attack made upon the goods manufactured by the 
National Tube Works Company. Note it. I hold in my hand a pamphlet 
which contains among other things of a false character; what purports to be 
the " Report of Prof. Chas. C. Thompson, of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, 
of Terre Haute, Ind," and which the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company say 
(on page 10 of their 1890 book), " was made for the American Water Works 
Association," and on page 10 of the pamphlet we find the following article 
before referred to. This article reads (in the pamphlet): 



THE ALLEGED REPORT OF PROF. THOMPSON. 91 



" Johu G. Briggs, Esq., Supt. Terre Haute Water Works submitted to me on June ioth, 
1884, apiece of new water pipe called Kalamein." 

Do you see any difference between the alleged reports ? Presuming that 
you do not, I will call your attention to the " Fine Italian Hand " and say 
that in the report of Thompson's before the Association he says : "A new 
water pipe, 3 inches long," while in the pamphlet the words " called Kala- 
mein " are inserted between the words "pipe" and "three," making it 
read "new water pipe called Kalamein," instead of a " new water pipe 3 
inches long." 

What do we see next ? Why, simply an attempt on the part of the per- 
son, or people, who had this master-piece of misrepresentation (if it can be 
dignified even by that name) published, at making it a little more readable 
perhaps, in making the word " drink -water " (as in the original) read 
" drinking-water " in the pamphlet. Next we find what is called " Thomp- 
son's report " reads (see paragraph 2), " has any advantage over iron wrought 
or cast." The author of the pamphlet in his anxiety to have cast iron al- 
ways at the front, makes it read " over cast or wrought iron." 

These little things are not of so great importance, but they do show to a 
certain degree what (if any) reliance can be placed in the matter contained 
in the pamphlet. 

What next? On page 11 the word " that " in the original is made to 
read " this " in the pamphlet, and in the pamphlet, on this same page there 
are no less than 85 words in italics, besides 103 words in italics on pages 12, 
13 and 14, making in all 188 words in italics in this pamphlet, whereas in 
Thompson's alleged report as published in the proceedings of the American 
Water Works Association there are but 16 words all told that are in italics. 
In other words this pamphlet has 172 more words italicized than there are in 
the original report, or in the report as published in the before-mentioned 
proceedings of the American Water Works Association. 

What really good excuse can be made by the author of this pamphlet 
for that forgery ? Shall I proceed, yes. On page 11 the words "avail to" 
are omitted between the words " not " and " prevent " ; the words " of the 
new " are omitted after the word " contract," and after the word " contract " 
the words ' ' with other ' ' are inserted, and further along on the same page 
(11), the words in the original " from this I cut " are omitted, and immedi- 
ately following the word "diameter" in the pamphlet, the words "I cut 
from this " are substituted. 

On page 12, in the 4th paragraph, the word " the " is placed between 
the words " of " and " pipe." The intention of the author, no doubt, being 
to have the reader understand that Professor Thompson had nothing in mind 
or under consideration except the alleged samples of Kalamein pipe that he 
says he received from Superintendent Briggs. On page 13 of this famous 
production I find the word "board" between the words " Massachusetts " 
and "Health," which was, no doubt, placed there for the purpose of induc- 
ing the readers of the pamphlet to believe that this report had also been 
considered or was being considered by the Massachusetts health officials. 
On the same page we find numerous changes, and I will note a few of them. 
Thompson's says or reads: "Dead, tin, zinc and iron." The pamphlet 
reads : " Lead, zinc, tin and iron." And in the same paragraph the letter 
" a " appears between the words " contribute " and " large," and the letter 



92 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



" a " is omitted from the word that follows, thus changing the meaning of 
the sentence and giving a false meaning to the sentence as originally pre- 
pared, or said to have been prepared, by Professor Thompson. In Thomp- 
son's we find the word " the " after the word " whether," but the word in 
the pamphlet is " this," thus showing another effort on the part of its author 
to (to put it very mildly ) mislead its readers. In the same paragraph we find 
after the word "with," the words "cast or wrought iron." Thompson's 
reads like this (and shows too that he is of the opinion that even common 
wrought iron pipe has some little merit when compared with cast iron pipe). 
As just stated, Professor Thompson's report, as published in the proceedings 
of the American Water Works Association, when referring to this matter, in 
every instance reads (mark the words, gentlemen, note them), " iron, wrought 
or cast." No, gentlemen, Thompson does not say "cast or wrought iron 
pipe," but does say " iron, wrought or cast." Can any sane person say that 
it was the intention of the author of this pamphlet to make a statement that 
could, by any process known to science or mechanical ingenuity of the high- 
est order, construct a sieve, or even conceive of a mechanical device in the 
nature of a sieve, whose mesh would be fine enough to catch the greatest 
truth that the author of this pamphlet was capable of uttering, even in his 
hours of most serious reflection ? 

I am of the opinion that before I have completed my surgical operation 
that you will agree with me when I say it could not be done. 

After the word " way " the author has inserted the word "and" and 
omitted the letter "I." After the word "also" the author omitted the 
word " immersed." After the word " iron " he inserted the word " pipe," 
and after the word " cast" he also inserted the word " iron." On page 14, 
after the word " cast," the author has inserted the word "iron," and further 
along the word "the" is carefully omitted after the word "of," and the 
letter " s," which should have been on the word pipes, is also omitted. In 
the closing sentence of this so-called report, and after the word "worth," 
the author's ingenuity prompted him to make just one more change — a 
slight one to be sure, but the temptation was too great and could not be 
resisted, and consequently the word " noticing," as appears in Thompson's 
report of the proceedings of the American Water Works Association, was 
eliminated, and in its stead appears the word "noting." Other changes 
were made, but as they do not alter or change the sense of Professor 
Thompson's report as submitted as aforesaid, I do not mention them. 

What do we find in the certificate ? O, nothing that the author of the 
pamphlet or his co-laborers would have the reader think was of any impor- 
tance, but "simply this and nothing more." They could not have you lose 
sight of what they have been insinuating was a fact, the substance of which 
is that Professor Thompson was employed by the American Water Works 
Association as an expert (which we will show you later on is not a fact) to 
make this so-called test and report. They, therefore, insert in the alleged 
report of the committee, after the word " Association," the following, "To 
employ an expert," thus leaving it to be understood that the American 
Water Works Association employed Professor Thompson to make this test, 
and also the false report which the author of the publication claimed was 
laid before the American Water Works Association, but which in reality 
was not, and then (presumably) fearing that the authorship of this con- 



THE ALLEGED REPORT OF PROF. THOMPSON. 93 



glomeration might be found out, and perhaps made to suffer for it, he re- 
sorts to another subterfuge and changes the name of one of the members of 
the committee, as will be seen by comparing the names as appears in the 
pamphlet with the names that appear appended to the report of the com- 
mittee as published in the report of the proceedings before, or of, the 
American Water Works Association. 

I will now call your attention to one or two facts regarding this pam- 
phlet and the extracts before mentioned from the publications of the Cin- 
cinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and of that of the Addyston 
Pipe and Steel Company. 

The proceedings of the American Water Works Association state that 
" Professor Thompson's report was not before that body until April 22d, 
1885." Therefore, if the report was not before them until April 22, 1885, it 
could not be considered by them until that time. Let us, therefore, for the 
sake of being charitable toward the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe 
Company, say that their book was published after (for, if published before, 
where did they get the report?) the April meeting of the American Water 
Works Association in 1885. I hardly think, however, that it makes any 
particular difference whether it was published before or after, but let's see. 
If published after the meeting it did not certainly tell the truth. They can 
take either horn they wish, and if neither horn is acceptable, they can take 
it straight, just as the record shows. 

They say on page 8 of their publication : 

A new conduit for water called Kalamein pipe has recently been brought before the 
public It is claimed for this pipe that the corrosion therein is less than in cast-iron pipe ; 
but tests made by the American Water Works Association show that the corrosion is ex- 
cessive in this pipe and that there is little or none in cast-iron." Also " from further tests 
the above Association have concluded that the Kalamein pipe is not a suitable carrier for 
water. 

They desire " to render credit for much of the information contained in 
this book to Rutherford, Hill, Cook, Ellis, Howland, Humber, Fanning, 
Haswell, Trautwine, Molesworth and Box." 

Now, gentlemen, this book of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe 
Company, if published before the meeting of the American Water Works 
Association could not under the most charitable circumstances that may be 
attributed to it, have spoken the truth, because the American Water Works 
Association has not up to this 12th day of November, 1890, received or had 
anything to do with this alleged report of Professor Thompson's as published 
in this pamphlet, or in any other way save to stamp the seal of condemna- 
tion upon it, as I will show you later on. Now then, if upon the other hand 
the book of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company was pub- 
lished after the meeting of the American Water Works Association after 
this report of Thompson's (or the alleged report) was so unmercifully sat 
upon by the American Water Works Association, does it not twist the facts 
when it says that "Tests made by the American Water Works Association 
shows that corrosion is excessive in this pipe, and from further tests the 
above mentioned Association have concluded that Kalamein pipe is not a 
suitable carrier for water." Gentlemen, who has stated the truth? The 
Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company say that the American 
Water Works Association did the things mentioned in the Cincinnati and 



94 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Newport Iron and Pipe Company's book, and the records of the American 
Water Works Association say emphatically, and by unanimous vote of the 
Association too, that they did not. (See " On the Side " page 84). 

The Addyston Pipe and Steel Company should also receive some consid- 
eration here. They are the successors of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron 
and Pipe Company, and have also published a book, and they are not only 
the successors of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, and 
own and operate the works formerly known as the Cincinnati and Newport 
Iron and Pipe Company, but to all appearances the mantle of the Cincin- 
nati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company is also covering them, or has 
fallen upon them. Their book is published in 1890. Nearly if not quite 5 
years after the American Water Works Association sat down upon and de- 
nied having any knowledge of this report of Thompson's. The Addyston 
Pipe and Steel Company say on page 10 (referring to Kalamein pipe) : 

The tests made by Prof. Chas. O. Thompson, of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, for 
the American Water Works Association and the trouble which several cities have already 
experienced iti its use, throw grave doubts on the protection offered by this coating. 

Gentlemen, I will give you the record of the American Water Works 
Association which shows that as far back as April, 1885, that the American 
Water Works Association disclaimed any knowledge or authority in or of 
Thompson's report, and leave you to search Webster to find a word suitable 
to express the meaning, the denial of the statement made by the Addyston 
Pipe and Steel Company, when they say in their book that " the American 
Water Works Association had had the tests made by Professor Thompson." 
The American Water Works Association by unanimous vote 5 years before 
the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company's book was published, said it did not, 
and I leave it for you to say which we shall believe, for one and only one of 
them has spoken the truth. 

The Addyston Pipe and Steel Company also renders credit to Rutherford, 
Hill, Cook, Ellis, Howland, Humber, Fanning, Haswell, Trautwine, Moles- 
worth and Box, for the many tables and much of the information contained 
in their book. 

Now let's see what their witnesses have to say about the National Tube 
Works Company's pipe. They are not cross-examined by us but give their 
statements freely, voluntarily and over their own signatures. 

Trautwine says on pages 293 and 294 : 
These pipes are tested to a bursting pressure of 500 lbs. per square inch or higher if 
desired ; they are furnished either coated with asphaltum or Kalamein, or, if desired, first 
Kalamein and then coated with asphaltum. Kalameining consists of incorporating upon 
and into the body of the iron a non-corrosive metal alloy largely composed of tin ; the sur- 
face thus formed is not cracked by blows or by bending, either hot or cold. 

He then explains the joint, and says : "The coupling forms a flush 
inner surface, with the pipe at the joint, thus avoiding much of the resist- 
ance of cast-iron pipes to flow." He then describes the National Tube 
Works Co.'s special castings briefly ; method of making joints, and says: 
" The pipes are in lengths of from 15 to 18 feet, instead of 12 feet, as in the 
case of cast-iron; so that fewer joints are required per mile." He then 
mentions the National Tube Works Co.'s tapping machines and also its pipe- 
cutting machines. On pages 236 and 237, Trautwine says — No, gentlemen, 
I will not quote what he there states for the reason that it refers to cast-iron 



THE ALLEGED REPORT OF PROF. THOMPSON. 95 



pipe incrustation, corrosion, why they should be larger than actually re- 
quired, etc. I desire to finish, if possible, without making any references to 
cast-iron pipe. 

I hold in my hand a pamphlet, the author of which says, under the 
head of Friction : 

From Prof. John C. Trautwine we have this opinion: "As the Converse Joint pro- 
duces an absolutely smooth interior, reducing friction to a minimum, the increased flow 
and delivery of gas will be readily appreciated. The cast-iron pipes themselves are not 
cast perfectly straight or smooth, or of uniform diameter, and irregular swellings produce 
eddies and retard the flow under the most favorable circumstances; therefore, it is 
expedient to make the diameter of cast-iron pipe, even for temporary purposes, sufficiently 
large to discharge at least 25 per cent, more than the quantity actually wanted ; and still 
larger allowance should be made in permanent pipes." 

Natural and manufactured gas and water mains are usually for per- 
manent lines. 

I will now call Prof. Chas. H. Haswell, another of the witnesses of the 
Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, and their successors, 
the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company. From Prof. Haswell we quote the 
following : 

The difference in friction between an ordinary spigot and bowl-jointed cast-iron pipe 
and a line of seamless wrought iron pipe with flush connections, alike to the Converse 
Joint, would be 25 to 35 per cent. 

I will call Prof. Haswell again. This is a telegram from Chas. H. 
Haswell, New York, to the members of a certain water committee, and it 
reads as follows : 

Difference in frictioual resistence to flow of water in a line of ordinary spigot and 
faucet-jointed cast-iron pipe and a line of seamless wrought iron tubes with flush surface at 
connections, alike to Converse's design, is fully 25 per cent. 

(Signed) Chas. H. Haswell. 

I will not take your time by further reference to either of those eminent 
engineers, but will proceed now by reading a few extracts from the proceed- 
ings of the American Water Works Association of 1885. But before doing 
that let me interview Messrs. Howland and Ellis, to whom the Cincinnati 
and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and the Addyston Pipe and Steel 
Company are indebted for much of the information contained in their pub- 
lications. Messrs. Howland and Ellis say on page 62 of their book, 
published in 1887 : 

Wrought iron pipes have been used for long periods and with good results. They 
combine great strength and pliability with lightness. Many methods of treating the sur- 
face to prevent oxidation have been tried ; that giving the best results is to Kalamein them. 
F. C. Hall, Fsq., Superintendent of the Quincy, Mass., Water Company, reports that he 
had occasion to lower a long line of 12-inch pipe of this kind that had been in use 254 years 
and he found it as clean and fresh as when first laid. It appears to be preferable to cast- 
iron, at the same cost per foot. 

That, gentlemen, is what Messrs. Howland and Ellis say in their little 
book. 

Gentlemen, I could interest you for hours (I believe you have been 
interested thus far) by reading what different members of the American 
Water Works Association had to say regarding the " Alleged report of Prof. 
Thompson" and the screeds that accompanied it, but will only take your 
time by reading extracts from what Mr. Howland, the witness of the Cin- 



96 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



cinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and of the Addyston Pipe and 
Steel Company, had to say. I will not even read any one of the many 
chemists reports that were submitted to the Association for the purpose of 
showing the errors that had by some means crept into the alleged report of 
Prof. Thompson. 

Second Day, Morning Session, April 22, 1S85. 
Report of committee read (one member refused to sign report). Then 
Prof. Thompson's report. Then the member (of the committee) that refused 
to sign the alleged report (Mr. Holden) said : 

I will state that I have not signed this report. I have made all inquiries that I could 
concerning that pipe, and I find that there are parties here who have been using it, manu- 
facturing it, and I understand that there are some chemical tests that have been made 
which will be reported here. For that reason I refrained from signing this report until I 
could hear the other side of the question. 

It would appear that Mr. Holden was not in the — I will not say employ 
of a cast-iron pipe concern, but will say that he was not in favor of any star- 
chamber proceedings. Mr. Howland said : 

In relation to this subject of wrought iron pipe I am especially interested, having 
used in the last two years forty or fifty miles of it in various places and under a great 
variety of conditions, and while not being able to-day to go into a scientific or chemical 
analysis of the question involved, I would like to state my experience with it. About two 
years ago (26 months I think it was) I had this first called to my attention. At that time 
its manufacture was just begun. I had been looking around for a suitable pipe — or, 
perhaps, better pipe than that which we had been using, and my attention was directed 
to wrought iron pipe. The great strides that had been made in the process of its manu- 
facture had at this time reduced its cost so that it was not so much in excess of the cost 
of cast-iron pipe but that we could consider it. I therefore spent some days or weeks in 
correspondence, in visiting and examining wrought iron pipe manufactories. 

Now go from page 218 to 221 and read from the book — to the end of the 
first paragraph on page 224. Do not read the remarks of Mr. Converse, 
unless called upon, but if asked to read his red-hot remarks, do so. 

Afternoon Session. 
On page 233 Mr. Howland said : 

I desire to call the attention of the convention to a pamphlet which I hold in my hand, 
bearing the title on the outer cover, of: "Information and Results of Experiments on 
Various Metals used for Water Pipe." On the title page the same statement is repeated, 
with the additional one of " Containing a Report of the American Water Works Associa- 
tion on Kalamein Pipe, etc." This pamphlet bears no name of authorship, or any trace 
by which its origin can be surmised, except the imprint of a firm of printers in Cincinnati, 
which is: " Cincinnati.— Robert Clark & Co , 1884." In reply to an inquiry sent these 
parties, they say, under date of April 2d, 1885: "The pamphlet you mention we do not 
know, and regret to say that we are unable to find any trace of the same whatsoever ; it 
must have been issued in some other city. Yours truly, Robert Clark & Co." The 
pamphlet therefore may be considered an entirely anonymous and unverified one, and 
the animus which caused its publication can only be inferred by the matter contained 
therein. The first few pages are devoted to a screed against all pipes excepting cast iron 
and, in garbled quotations and unsubstantialized statements regarding other pipes. Next 
appears, under a heading in large capitals: "The Report of the Committee of the 
Americau Water Works Association on Kalamein Pipe," which is substantially as read by 
Mr. Holden, and, as far as the report of Professor Thompson is concerned, is absolutely 
the same, word for word. After this there appears what purports to be extracts from 
reports in relation to the water works of the Cities of Lowell, New Bedford, Worcester. 
Salem and Hartford. These statements are erroneous (Mr. Howland thinks " erroneous" 



THE ANONYMOUS CIRCULAR. 97 



is the proper word to use, don't he?) having been changed, from the authorized reports 
as published by these various cities, in six different places, to read : " Wrought Iron 
Pipe," or " Wrought Pipe," in place of Cement-Lined Pipe, as appears in the original 
reports. In substantiation of the fact that these changes were made, and that these ex- 
tracts are fogeries, I have here the annual reports of the cities in question, and also per- 
sonal letters from Mr. Holden, Superintendent, of Lowell, and Mr. Hall, Superintendent, 
of Quincy, and formerly of Worcester, in which they say that their reports are entirely 
different from that given in this pamphlet, and Mr. Holden says in his that " the person 
who published that statement is evidently a fraud." I saw this pamphlet in Chicago, in 
December, 1SS4, four mouths before our committee had reported. The whole matter is a 
fraud, gotten up for the designed purposes of misleading the public in relation to this 
question of water pipe, and to give it the color of truth and importance, they had stolen 
from some one a report of the committee of this Association, which report has just been 
presented, and have printed forged extracts from reports made by honored members of 
this Association. 

Gentlemen, that is what Mr. Rowland, the witness of the Cincinnati 
and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, and of the Addyston Pipe and Steel 
Company, to whom they are indebted for much of the information contained 
in their respective books, has to say regarding this pamphlet, and also re- 
garding statements the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and 
the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company make in their respective books, one 
of which was published five years after Mr. Howland's statement made be- 
fore the American Water Works Association, had been published. Is Mr. 
Howland a good witness for them, or is he a better witness for us? 

Now let's see what the American Water Works Association, as such, did 
with this alleged report of Professor Thompson, and also with this so-called 
" Report of its Committee." 

The Secretary : As this pamphlet has been issued without the consent of lhis 
Association, or its executive committee, yet claiming indirectly to have been, it is but 
proper that some notice be taken of it ; I will therefore move : that this Association 
totally disclaim any part in it, or knowledge of its publication. Unanimously adopted. 

Now then, who is the author of that famous publication which the 
American Water Works Association refused to acknowledge? Who insti- 
gated the employment of the chemist that made the alleged analysis of what 
was supposed to be the National Tube Works pipe ? Who paid Professor 
Thompson for the services (?) he rendered ? Who induced Professor Thomp- 
son to make the so-called tests without first "waxing their newly cut ends," 
as is always done when testing pipe to ascertain whether the coating on the 
outer and inner surface of the pipe alone was under consideration ? Do the 
cast iron pipes not rust and corrode on their newly-cut ends ? According to 
his own statement (if it be his), he made these tests with samples having 
unprotected ends. As Mr. Howland says on pages 223 and 224 of the pro- 
ceedings of the American Water Works Association of 1885 : 
and in his analysis failed to find a most important and valuable metal con- 
tained in this Kalamein mixture," I think I am warranted in drawing this 
conclusion : that his tests and the results derived thereform were made upon 
the strength of false representations, and the analysis I presume was made 
by some of his assistants, rather than by him, which would account for its 
glaring inaccuracy. 

Mr. Howland says in the next sentence : 
Considering these conditions, and the remarkable good state in which these samples 
(most of them) are, I think that the Kalamein pipe has passed through the ordeal of a 
partisan criticism in a remarkably good manner. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 









THE ALLEGED REPORT OF PROF. THOMPSON. 



99 







^ I 








100 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



This (the above) statement is from the lips of the "witness" of the 
Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, and the Addyston Pipe 
and Steel Company and this "witness " of theirs stated, as you have already 
heard, that he had, previous to making the foregoing statement, used be- 
tween forty and fifty miles of this same kind of pipe ! He speaks from ex- 
perience which he has had, and is therefore competent to talk upon the 
subject, is he not? 

As to who is the author of that pamphlet, I leave you to judge. It and 
like productions, together with circulars like this, which is the same as 
appears on pages 16, 17, 18, and 19 of the pamphlet, and which Mr. Holdeu 
said were frauds and forgeries, are the stock in trade of our competitors, or 
at least some of them. I venture the assertion that you have already been 
supplied with this class of literature. 

Who paid for it ? I don't know, but one thing I do know, and that is, 
that I have in my possession a letter from J. G. Briggs, under date of 
November 5th, 1884, stating that "Thompson of our Polytechnic has just 
returned his report, with samples," and that "Mr. Davis, of the Newport 
Pipe Company said he would be responsible for the amount to be paid 
expert." In the same letter he expresses a desire for Mr. Davis, Mr. Car- 
son, and " one of your folks " to be "at Terre Haute next week." A post- 
script at the end of this letter reads : " We have been at considerable trouble 
about this pipe on our own and on your (the pipe maker's) account, and I 
would like to have you help us out on the best means of making it of value. 
B." Why does Mr. Briggs take such an active part in the matter ? There 
must be some good reason for his wanting to " get even " with the National 
Tube Works Company. I know the reason — at least, I know it as he told 
it to me in his office at Terre Haute on the da)^ that Prof. Thompson gave 
Briggs the report. What does Mr. Briggs write me about two years after 
the date of Thompson's report ? 

Here it is : 

"Office of Terre Haute Water Works Company,] 
"J. G. Briggs, Superintendent. > 

"Terre Haute, Ind., Dec. 22, 18S6. J 
"A.J. Guilford, Chicago. 

" Dear Sir :— You may remember in Professor Thompson's report, he states burying 
some pieces of Kalameine pipe. I have had two of them dug up after a lapse of over two 
years. One of them does not appear as bad as I expected. The other one, which was near 
a gas pipe, is wasted much more. I would like to put that where it would do the most 
good. The present President is going to have a sample analyzed to see if there is any 
nickle in it. The Kalamein people discredited T's statements on account of his not finding 
any. I have not the least bit of sympathy with the cast-iron pipe nieu for not sending or 
allowing Carson to go to Boston, where, in the absence of any friends, he, myself, and 
Thompson were slaughtered. The expense of a trip would have been but little after the 
trouble we had been to, but I want to get even with the National Tube Works Company for 
their misrepresentations of myself. I think I shall put it on exhibition in some window 
in St. Louis or Chicago, where it will do the most good. What had I better do with it ? 

Respectfully, 

"J. G. Briggs." 



THE ALLEGED REPORT OF PROF. THOMPSON. 101 



Now, gentlemen, what does the foregoing signify ? Does it not show 
to you, as business men, that the parties who have apparently taken such a 
deep interest in concocting deep laid schemes and getting them before the 
public under cover of an alleged chemical analysis, and (as both the Cincin- 
nati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and the Addyston Pipe and Steel 
Company have stated and published in their books) that too in the face of a 
positive and official denial from the American Water Works Association, 
and by their unanimous vote — I ask you, does it not show that they fear 
the competition of the National Tube Works Company and their " Lusty 
Giant?" Is it not a truism that: "Whom the gods would destroy, they 
first make mad ?" Could any sane man, or men, put that pamphlet before 
the public and say that it, or its contents, are authority ? I will go further 
and ask you, could a corporation composed of sane men say, as do the 
Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company and the Addyston Pipe 
and Steel Company, in their publications, that Professor Thompson did 
certain things for the American Water Works Association, and that, too, in 
the face of such a denial as the Association made about five years previous 
to the publication of the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company's book ? No, 
gentlemen, I think that you will agree with me when I say that such things 
smack very strongly of our " having them on the run." Does not their 
anxiety to get this work — anxiety so earnestly displayed — say to you in 
language more forcible than I can express that our goods are to be feared ? 
Does it not prove to you that our goods, to say the least, have, after all, 
some slight merit? A merit, too, that, should you adopt them at prices in 
excess of theirs, would belike putting another nail in their casket? We 
do not offer our goods at ridiculously low prices, as we have no doubt the 
other bidders' prices will show. No, gentlemen, the quality of our goods 
does not warrant us in doing that. We claim for our goods superiority 
over cast-iron ; that they are worth more money, size for size, and that 
our pipe will, under like conditions, carry at least 20 per cent, more 
water than cast-iron, and we can take 3-011 to places where you can see 
it done, should you doubt the statements of Trautwine, Haswell, and 
others. Haswell says 25 to 35 per cent., and, if it be true, should not the 
bid for your cast-iron pipe be at least 25 to 35 per cent, less than ours, in 
order to make their bid equal to ours — and that in the matter of capacity 
only ? That cannot be denied, notwithstanding the sneers, flings and 
insinuations from dark corners and behind doors, to say nothing of the 
attempts at sarcasm, which I have no doubt have convinced you that they 
are away up in this particular line, and certainly entitled to the palm. You 
have probably noticed that some of our competitors possess a genius which 
qualifies them immensely for enlarging upon matters which cut but a slight 
figure, and that, too, when very slight concernments have a wonderfully 
comprehensive meaning ; that is, according to their peculiar system of 
reasoning. Their simple averments that we have not done this, that or the 
other thing, are not, I think, likely to be considered as proofs, especially 
after the showing we have made of them, and that, too, by their own wit- 
nesses. Have we not proven our side, and proven it by the records, too, in 
each instance ? I made a statement when in your city last, made it in the 
presence of Mr. Kebler and Mr. Prentice, about what Mr. Prentice told me 
that Mr. Kebler had said to him in a certain town in Ohio, about six weeks 



102 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



previously, the substance of it being that if the National Tube Works Com- 
pany could make their pipe fast enough and sell it at near cast-iron pipe 
prices, that cast-iron pipe would be a thing of the past. Kebler denied having 
made the statement. I gave him my authority, in your presence — Mr. 
Prentice — and Prentice did not deny it. The fact was that Mr. Prentice had 
been picked up and made to take water on so many statements he denied 
making that he thought he would keep quiet. I regret that I am compelled 
to take any notice whatever of their petty meanness— or perhaps jealousy 
w T ould be the better word — and the exhibition they have made of themselves 
in that regard, and also regret that I am compelled, on behalf of the com- 
pany I have the honor to represent, to even notice the remarks, both 
personal and otherwise, that have not only been made here, but that were 
made in other cities, and in connection with this work now under consider- 
ation. I am inclined to think, however, that the howl they have made will 
not be accepted as authority by the gentlemen composing this board of 
trustees. Their present attitude is in the same line of policy as heretofore, 
only more pronounced, as befits the necessity of the occasion, but their 
little arrows, barbed with envy and dipped in gall, may prove to be boom- 
erangs. Their reports about our goods are one and the same story, except, 
perhaps, when it becomes necessary to make certain changes in reports, 
such as those that originally described cement-lined pipe being changed to 
read " Kalamein pipe" or "Wrought Iron pipe." 

Referring once more to the quality of our goods. Why are they so 
solicitous about what they affect to despise ? Surely, if our goods be such 
as their fertile imagination have tempted them to describe, the game is not 
worth the powder required to kill it ! Do not their statements and actions 
carry with them the conviction that the element of truth is wanting ? It 
will be no wonder to me if the fact of their spleen becomes so patent to you 
and to the citizens as to make it impossible for them to secure this contract, 
even by offering to give you their goods. They insinuate that your proposed 
water works cannot be constructed this season, or before cold weather 
compels the work to stop, and they appear to be confident upon that matter. 
This may be, and no doubt is, true, so far as they are concerned, but we do 
not allow them to say that we cannot. We say that we can construct these 
works this season, and when we say that we will do it, we mean it, too, and 
in the language of Pooh-Bah in the Mikado, " the work is as good as done," 
for the National Tube Works Company "said it would be done ;" therefore 
" it must be done," and " if it be done, why not say so." 

Our proposal is a straightforward one, not full of technicalities, quibbles 
and ambiguous sentences, carefully worded, and so gotten up that it would 
require a man with a West Point education to tell you as to whether or not 
extra charges could not be made — yes, made and collected too. Our bond 
for the faithful performance of its terms will be at least a satisfactory one, 
should a bond be thought a necessary appendage to our contract. Permit 
me to suggest in this connection, however, that the National Tube Works 
Company are seldom asked to give a bond, let the amount of the contract be 
never so great. No, gentlemen, such a thing is seldom hinted. If awarded 
to us, we propose (notwithstanding the earnestness that has been exhibited 
by our competitors to keep us in the background) to do the work, all of it, 
and in such a manner as to not only reflect credit upon ourselves, but also 



CONVERSE JOINT PIPE ADOPTED. 103 



upon the enterprising citizens who are endeavoring to niake this city beau- 
tiful, populous and healthy by the plentifulness of one of nature's best gifts 
— pure and wholesome water. 

I desire to thank you, gentlemen, for the attention you have given me, 
while I, by your courtesy, have been permitted to openly and publicly 
reply to the inuendoes and insinuations of some of our competitors, as well 
as to the petty personalities which they have seen fit to indulge in. Is it 
not a fact that they have employed every means possible to keep the " Lusty 
Giant" — Kalamein pipe — in the background ? Schemes of all kinds have 
been concocted for the purpose of gaining a point— a point never so slight. I 
mention these matters with the best intentions, believing that a glimpse of 
these fading memories will be a stimulant to our competitors' minds (now 
partially discouraged) and may bring back a touch of the fiery eloquence (?) 
which has characterized them in the past, and to which you have had — shall I 
call it the ' ' pleasure ' ' of listening ? Have they forgotten the assistance that 
was rendered them, as against the National Tube Works Company, by a 
certain party who is now present ? Have they forgotten how enthusiastic 
they were over the matter (?) contained in that pamphlet ? The record as 
against the pamphlet, and which they thought was dead and buried, has 
(alas ! for them) been only sleeping. We have not tried to belittle their 
goods, although there are present those who know that I could give you 
undoubted statistics on cast-iron pipe that would startle you. No, gentle- 
men, it is the policy of the National Tube Works Company to speak of the 
superior merits of their goods, and let the defamers of them, by their words 
and actions heap laurels upon us. It has been said that " comparisons are 
odious," and especially so sometimes to those who make or provoke thern. 

I will make but one, and that is — that, in this instance, the National 
Tube Works Company represent the " Limited " passing the office of the 
Dodge Manufacturing Company at the rate of fifty or sixty miles an hour. 
The cast-iron men (and their co-laborers) represent the mule on yonder 
crossing that would not get out of the way but made a desperate effort to 
kick the locomotive. The locomotive went right along ! 

I now leave the matter in your hands, and await with interest your 
decision as to whether this contract will be awarded to the National Tube 
Works Company, being assured, in my own mind, that, if so awarded, it 
will not be other than strictly upon the merits of our goods, for we believe 
that a good commodity will, with equitable dealing, find its way into some 
degree of favor. 

Gentlemen, I thank you. 



Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe Selected. 
The contract was promptly and unanimously awarded to 
Mr. Guilford, on behalf of the National Tube Works Company, 
by the Mishawaka Water Works Company, who thanked him for 
the fearless, complete and satisfactory manner in which he had 
presented the facts and information that had induced them to 
adopt Kalamein pipe in preference to cast-iron pipe without the 
least hesitation. 



104 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We made the first two shipments of Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Pipe on November 17th and 22d, 1890, aggregating 22,870 
feet; sizes, 4-in., 6-in., 8-in., 10-in. and 12-in., as follows: 

November 17th : 

6-inch 5.3 2 5 feet. 

8-iuch 4,610 feet. 

10-inch 5,495 feet. 

12-iiicli 1,090 feet. 

November 22c! : 

4-inch 3,ioo feet. 

6-inch 3, 150 feet. 

8-iuch 100 feet. 

We have presented the foregoing voluminous report of the 
contest with the cast-iron fraternity at the Mishawaka letting, as 
it is of more recent date than some of the other battles of a sim- 
ilar nature which we have won with Converse Joint Pipe. The 
arguments and facts therein given will also obviate the necessity 
of our recording many of the details in separate chapters. 



Extract from the report of Jas. R. Maxwell, consulting en- 
gineer : 

Mishawaka, Ind., Nov. 10th, 1891. 
W. H. Dodge, President Mishawaka Water Works Co., Mishawaka, Ind. 

By your request I took charge of the water works plant at one o'clock 
Monday, November 9th, 1891, and conducted the test in the following 
manner : 

First. — While the firemen were connecting the hose and nozzles for 
exhibiting the fourteen streams to be thrown at one and the same time, the 
boilers were fired and the engines put to work with steam at 95 pounds and 
water pressure at i2opouuds. When the streams were all turned on the en- 
gines increased their speed up to about 95 feet per minute, maintaining very 
nearly uniform pressure throughout the trial. Some of the hose burst and 
allowed the speed to increase suddenly at times, but without any unusual 
occurrence or injm-y to the machinery ; the water and steam pressure beiug 
maintained with ease during the entire trial of one and one-half hours, prov- 
ing the machinery, boilers and pipes fully adapted for fire purposes. The 
ease with which the pressure and fire streams was maintained clearly dem- 
onstrates that the pipe system is of ample size and capacity to meet all your 
requirements if your city should double in size in the near future. At the 
end of the fire test, the hydrants were closed and the test of the pipe system 
was begun, with a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds, which water 
pressure was maintained with great regularity for one hour, when a plug was 
forced out of the old cast-iron pipe line, allowing the pressure to drop to one 
hundred pounds, and the engines to increase their speed from eight revolu- 
tions to thirty-eight revolutions per minute, which condition was maintained 



THE WORKS ACCEPTED. 105 



with ease for two hours. The valves were then closed to shut out the leak 
above mentioned and the pressure again raised to 150 pounds, and the en- 
gines changed their speed back again to S revolutions per minute, which 
speed and pressure was maintained with great regularity until midnight, a 
period of seven consecutive hours, which was deemed a sufficient proof that 
the machinery and pipe lines are strong enough for all that will ever be re- 
quired of them. The pipe used (except a few squares of cast iron pipe in 
the old system, in which the "plug " above referred to "blew out") is the 
Kalameined iron special water pipe fitted with the Converse Patent L,ock 
Joint. A careful and critical examination showed that there was not a leak 
existing in any part of the Kalamein pipe system under the test pressure 
of one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch, which speaks well for the 
Kalamein pipe used and the care and skill displayed in laying the same, 
there being about seven miles of the Kalamein pipe under this pressure. 
From the above excellent showing, I feel warranted in recommending the 
acceptance of the pipe system and hydrants by your company as complete 
in accordance with your specifications in every particular. * * 

Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) Jas. R. Maxwew, Consulting Engineer. 

The test of the water works was completed at midnight, 
November 9th; Consulting Engineer's report of the " test" was 
submitted to the Board of Directors of the Water Works Com- 
pany, at their meeting November nth, at which time the follow- 
ing preamble and resolution was adopted by unanimous vote of 
the Board of Trustees, and a copy duly certified was ordered fur- 
nished the National Tube Works Company: 

MISHAWAKA, IND., NOV. Ilth, 189I. 

Whereas, The National Tube Works Co., did, on the 13th day of No- 
vember, 1890, enter into contract with the Mishawaka Water Works Co., of 
Mishawaka, Indiana, to furnish certain water pipe, special castings, gate 
valves and fire hydrants and lay the same in the streets at Mishawaka, In- 
diana, and, 

Whereas, Said National Tube Works Co., has fully performed all the 
requirements of their said contract, and the pipe distribution system has 
successfully withstood a test pressure of 150 pounds per square inch for a 
period of seven consecutive hours without developing any leaks or imper- 
fections ; therefore, be it 

Resolved, that the said pipe distribution system be and the same is 
hereby received and accepted. 

(Signed) Mishawaka, Water Works, Co., 

W. H. Dodge, Pres. 

I hereby certify that the above is a true copy of a resolution adopted by 
the Board of Trustees of the Mishawaka Water Works Co., at a meeting 
held November nth, 1891. 

(Signed) John J. SchindlER, Sec'y. 

[Seae] 



106 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



MISSOULA, MONTANA. 

Missoula Water Works and Milling Company, > 
Missoula, Mont., Oct. 28th, 1892. ) 

National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of 20th, received yesterday, and in answer will state that your 
Kalameiii pipe is giving good satisfaction. 

The amount of pressure is about 55 pounds. 

Present condition of the pipe, good. In the past two years we have also 
examined the pipe that had been laid seven and eight years, and found it to 
be in good condition. 

Character of soil, gravelly with, in some places, alkali. 

Internal condition with reference to cleanliness, good. The water sup- 
ply is pure mountain water, and has no impurities, with the exception of 
leaves, in spring and fall. 

Effect, if any, on the water, none that we can discover. 

We have no cast-iron pipe in use. 

We have no fault to find with Kalamein pipe and can see no reason 
why this kind of pipe should not give good satisfaction. 

We would like to ask of you the favor to furnish us with advice regarding 
the following particulars. We have a pressure of about 60 pounds. We also 
have in the business part of our town seven elevators which are run by 
water from our system, and when all the elevators are in use the pressure at 
times runs down to thirty and thirty-five pounds, and when the draught is shut 
off the pressure jumps back to sixty pounds. Therefore we occasionally have 
a leak in the 10 and 12-inch pipe joints. Do you think that this jumping 
from 30 to 35 pounds back to 60 pounds has anything to do with the leaks ? 

For making joints we use (mostly) lead from the bullets abandoned from 
Fort Missoula. Some parties that profess to know, say our lead is too soft, 
and should be hardened by the addition of zinc. Others say that our lead 
is too hard, and that nothing but pure pig lead should be used. 

The writer of this who has managed the works for five years past, be- 
lieves that too much oakum packing was used when the pipe was first laid, 
and that the oakurn w r as not properly tamped. 

If you can give me any points in this matter they would be greatly 
appreciated by 

(Signed) Missoula Water Works & Milling Co., 

Alfred Cave, Sec. and Manager. 



MONROE, LOUISIANA. 

The Anonymous Circular Again Resurrected at Monroe, La. 

At the recent water works letting at Monroe, La., the town 
was flooded with the anonymous circular published in 1884, at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, the home of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron 
and Pipe Co., and their successors, the Addyston Pipe and Steel 



THE ANONYMOUS CIRCULAR AGAIN. 107 

Co. As you will remember, this " anonymous circular " was 
designated by the American Water Works Association as a 
"forgery " " and the author of it a fraud," and, further, " that 
the whole matter is a fraud gotten up for the designed purpose 
of misleading the public in relation to the question of water 
pipe, and contained forged extracts from reports made by 
honored members of this Association." (See proceedings of 
A. M. W. W. Assn., 1885, pp. 233 and 234.) 

The result at Monroe, La., however, was quite satisfactory 
to us, as a special meeting of the City Council was called ; the 
ordinance previously adopted, specifying cast-iron pipe for the 
water works, was changed so that the Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Kalamein Pipe could be used, and the contract for the entire 
pipe distribution system, consisting of 

24,000 feet of 4-inch, 

8,000 feet of 6-inch, 

7,475 feet of 8-inch, 

4,460 feet of 10-inch, and 
350 feet of 12-inch 
Converse Joint Kalamein and Asphalted Pipe was awarded to the 
National Tube Works Co. 

The following extracts from the Telegraph- Bulletin., official 
paper of the City of Monroe, La., will be of interest: 

City Hall, Monroe, La., Nov. 21, 1892. 

A special meeting of the Mayor and City Council was held this day. 

Present — Hon. A. J. Herring, Mayor ; C. B. Johnston, C. H. Trousdale, 
E. Fudickar, E. H. Rills, W. A. O'Kelly, Sandy Bird and F. W. Barrington. 

The Mayor stated the object of the meeting was to consider an amend- 
ment to the electric light and water supply ordinance, and read as follows : 

Be it ordained, etc., by the Mayor and City Council of the City of 
Monroe, La., in special session convened, that the Monroe Water Works 
and Electric Light Company be, and it is hereby permitted, authorized and 
empowered to change the plans and specifications for its water works and 
electric light plant in this city, which have heretofore been accepted and 
approved by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Monroe, La., in the 
following particulars and respects, and none other, to wit : 

1st. That the smokestack of said plant may be constructed of iron or 
steel. 

2nd. That the street mains of said water plant may be constructed with 
wrought-iron Kalamein pipe instead of cast-iron pipe. 

3d. Whenever extensions in the water mains are required as provided 
for in Section 8 of Ordinance N, 703, adopted February 22, 1892, the city 
will place one fire hydrant to every 400 feet of such extension, to be paid 
for at the price named and stipulated in Section 7 of said Ordinance No. 
703. 



108 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



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# 

^ 
§ 



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MONROE WELL PLEASED. 



109 




110 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



On motion the same was laid over for investigation, subject to call 
of the Mayor. 

Mr. Fudickar moved that the matter of locating street lights * * * 
On motion the council adjourned. 

A. J. HERRING, Mayor. 

M. L. Meredith, Secretary. 

Electric Lights and Water Works. 

As will be seen by reference to the City Council proceedings published 
elsewhere, permission has been granted the Water Works and Light Co., to 
make certain changes in the plans and specifications of the plant heretofore 
agreed upon. In the first place the company has been granted the right to 
build an iron or steel smoke-stack, and in the second, Kalamein pipe has 
been substituted for cast-iron pipe. * * * The Kalamein pipe is made 
of wrought-iron subjected to a bath in molten alloy which gives it a smooth 
inside finish. A better flow of water and higher pressure is the result, and 
for that reason it is said to be superior to cast-iron pipe. The new pipe is 
being extensively used and it costs more than the cast-iron. — Editorial com- 
ments, Telegraph-Bulletin. 



MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN. 

Muskegon, Mich., October 20, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Since the laying of the extensions to the water mains of this city, with 
Converse Indestructible Pipe manufactured by your company, I have wit- 
nessed several tests made to determine more particularly the decrease of 
friction from what would be encountered in cast-iron pipe, and the results 
of these tests, whether made with one-inch streams from hose, or by opening 
the hydrants at the butts, have invariably been that not only came stronger 
streams, and more of them being thrown from Converse Indestructible Pipe, 
but also that these same streams will be from twenty-five to thirty per cent, 
longer or higher. 

(Signed) H. Park, 

Thomas Munroe. 



Muskegon, Mich., October 27, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The undersigned were present at a test made in Muskegon when water 
was sent through a ten-inch cast-iron pipe tinder the same pressure and at 
the same time that it was sent through a ten-inch wrought-iron pipe, when 
the following results were obtained : 

The cast-iron pipe was only able to deliver one stream through fifty feet 
of hose and 1% inch nozzle, and throw it one hundred and thirty-five feet, 
whilst the wrought-iron pipe, under the same pressure and similar circum- 
stances, delivered one stream through fifty feet of hose and i 1 /. inch nozzle, 
and was able to throw the stream one hundred and eighty-five feet. 

(Signed) E. W. Thayer, Recorder. 



FRICTION— COMPARATIVE TEST. Ill 



Office of Board of Water Works, \ 
Muskegon, Mich., Sept. ist, 1885. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry as to how we like your Kalamein water pipe, 
fitted with Converse Patent Lock Joints, would say that we laid during the 
summer of 1883 and 1884, a large amount, and can say that it has given us 
perfect satisfaction. 

We to-day dug down to, examined, and found it in as good condition as 
when laid. No signs of rust or corrosion of any kind. We believe it to be 
a superior quality of water pipe. We have not had to spend a dollar for re- 
pairs since the pipe was laid. We have never had a break in any of your 
pipe. 

(Signed) John KraTz, Superintendent. 



Muskegon, Mich., Sept. ist, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

At request of your Mr. Keeler, would state that during the summer of 
1883 and 1884, we laid a large amount of your Kalamein water pipe as 
extensions to our cast-iron distribution, and that an examination at the 
present time shows your pipe to be in as good condition as when laid. It 
has given us no trouble, and we are well satisfied with our investment. 
(Signed) E. W. Thayer, 

Secy. Board of Water Commissioners. 



We, the undersigned, were present at the test made in Muskegon, 
where water was sent through a ten-inch cast-iron pipe under the same pres- 
sure, and at the same time that it was sent through a ten-inch wrought-iron 
pipe, when the following results were obtained : 

The cast-iron pipe was only able to deliver two streams one hundred 
feet long, whilst the wrought-iron pipe under the same pressure, and similar 
circumstances, delivered three streams one hundred and fifty feet long. 

Another test that was made was to detach the hose from the hydrants 
and turn on the pressure the same as before, and the result obtained was a 
stream eight feet in length through the cast-iron pipe and fifteen through 
the wrought-iron, and showing that the friction in the wrought-iron was 
less than the cast-iron. Without the hose there being nearly 100 per cent, 
difference, and with the hose two streams thrown with cast-iron where 
three were thrown with wrought-iron, and there being 50 per cent, difference 
in the length of the streams in favor of the wrought-iron. 

(Signed) Peter Landstiff, 

Member of Board of Water Commissioners. 
John Kratz, 
Superintendent Water Works. 



Referring to the foregoing " Official Records" of the com- 
parative tests at Muskegon, Mich., between the cast-iron pipe 
system in one portion of the city, and the Converse Lock Joint 
Kalamein pipe system in another portion of the city, it will be 



112 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



seen that the records of this test fully bear out the opinion of 
Prof. Haswell, as given in his telegram of December 18th, 1883, 
viz. : 

Difference in frictioual resistance to flow of water in a line of ordinary 
spigot and faucet jointed cast-iron pipe, and a line of seamless wrought-iron 
pipe, with flush surface at connections, alike to Converse design, is fully 
25 per cent, in favor of the latter. 

Copy of the following deposition was voluntarily furnished 
our Chicago branch house: 

Deposition of John J. Howden, of lawful age, taken pursuant to the 
foregoing notice, before John W. Wilson, notary public, on oral interroga- 
tories and cross-interrogatories, H. E. Keeler appearing for the plaintiff, 
and no one for the defendant. 

John J. Howden, being duly sworn and examined, deposed as follows : 

Direct Examination. 

Question. "What is your name ? 

Answer. John J. Howden. 

Q. What is your age, residence and occupation ? 

A. Residence, Muskegon, Michigan ; age 43 ; occupation, plumber and 
gas fitter, and ex-Commissioner of Water Works. 

O. Are you familiar with the water pipe manufactured by the National 
Tube Works Company known as " Kalamein " pipe? 

A. Yes. 

O. State particularly what experience you have had with it ? 

A. Our department first commenced using Kalamein water pipe in 1883, 
and have made additional purchases of it every year since, including this 
year, all of which has been used for water works purposes in our city water 
works. 

0. State, from your actual experience, what you know with respect to 
the quality and durability of such pipe fully ? 

A. From our experience in the use of Kalamein pipe since we com- 
menced using it, we find it first-class in quality, strength and durability. 
An examination shows it to be in first-class condition, and apparently as 
good as when first made and laid. It has been satisfactory in every respect 
to our department. 

(Signed) John J. Howden. 

1, John W. Wilson, a notary public, in and for the City of Muskegon, 
County of Muskegon, State of Michigan, duly commissioned, do hereby 
certify that on the 12th day of June, 1S89, at 10 o'clock A. M., pursuant to 
the foregoing notice, the deposition of John J. Howden was taken before 
me. That the foregoing is the deposition referred to and the whole thereof, 
and that the said witness, before testifying, was cautioned and sworn to 
testify the whole truth, and was carefully examined ; his testimony was 
reduced to writing by me, and after being reduced to writing, was carefully 
read over by me to the witness, and subscribed by him. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal the 
12th day of June, 1889. 

(Signed) John W. Wieson, Notary Public. 



KALAMEIN TESTED IN SALT BRINE. 113 



Muskegon, Mich., Nov. 15th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yesterday Mr. Keeler brought two gentlemen from Ogden to see our 
saw mill, and finding out from them what they were after in this city, told 
them that I had something in the office that might interest them, and 
showed them a piece of your pipe, which I stated had been four years in 
salt brine. I confess at the time I thought that it was in a remarkable state 
of preservation, and this morning I made it my business to hunt in the 
cellar and see if I was right. I found there a two quart Mason fruit jar with 
a label which says, " Put in soak Nov. 13th, 1885." 

I send you the label and the piece of pipe. The brine was up to the 
part where the ring of matter is round it ; this formed a cake of such a size 
that I had to chip it partially off, so as to get the piece of pipe out of the jar, 
otherwise it is just as I found it. 

The brine that this was put in was taken by me from the Muskegon 
Well, and it was said to be the strongest that had been found on this shore. 
I think that the piece of pipe has stood the test very well, and do not think 
you need to be ashamed of it, and I think that what you now make ought 
to be better, seeing the amount of experience you have had since 1885. 

Personally, I was glad to get such good reports from our Water Supt. 
regarding the condition in which he found your pipe in our city, as you may 
recollect that I was on the Board when we first put it in, and had to stand 
all kinds of abuse and ridicule from other makers of other styles of pipe, 
not to speak of the local " croakers." 

(Signed) H. Park. 

Chemist's report on above-mentioned Kalamein pipe which 
had laid in salt brine from November 13th, 1885, to November 
15th, 1889 — a period of four years : 

I duly received the sample of Kalamein pipe submitted by H. Park, 
accompanied with his letter, dated Muskegon, Mich., Nov. 16th, 1889, 
wherein he states " that the pipe had been submerged in a bath of the 
strongest brine which nature offered in that territory." 

The result of the test is highty complimentary to Kalamein pipe, from 
the fact that the test was very severe. 

Upon examination of the sample submitted, I notice the truth of Mr. 
Park's statements, and the " ring matter " to which he refers I find is com- 
posed chiefly of chloride of sodium, carbonate of magnesia and carbonate of 
lime. The latter two salts no doubt existed in the original brine solution as 
bi-carbonates, which materials, remaining hermetically sealed for five 
years, would liberate an equivalent of carbonic acid gas, and this reaction 
accounts for the fact that I find precipitate adhering to the iron in the form 
of carbonate of magnesia and lime. As a matter of further interest, I beg to 
remark that a brine composed of chloride of sodium, chloride of calcium 
and bi-carbonate of magnesia with lime will not corrode Kalamein pipe, 
although one might suppose that the liberated carbonic acid would show 
destructive effects upon plain iron, because the acid would impinge upon 
the iron for whatever period the test might be prolonged. In this case I am 
told the test lasted five years. 



114 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



It is also a matter of fact that carbonic acid in the presence of moisture 
will attack plain iron surfaces very readily, but the case in point shows that 
Kalamein has resisted corrosion in a powerful manner. 

(Signed) C. B. Manby, Chemist. 



MT. PLEASANT, PENNSYLVANIA 

dard Mines and Coke "\ 
MT. Pleasant, Pa., August 3, 1883 



Standard Mines and Coke Works, \ 



National Tube Works Co. 

About one year since we received from your establishment a large 
quantity of eight-inch aad four-inch Converse Patent Lock Joint coated 
pipe. The eight-inch we emplo3'ed to conduct water from our two Blake 
pumps to the reservoir on the hill overlooking our works, and the four-inch 
we used to distribute the water along our lines of coke ovens. We were 
obliged to introduce a large number of one-inch service pipes in the four- 
inch pipe, and found your service clamps very convenient for tapping. 

It is yet too soon for us to report the comparative durability of your 
pipe and cast-iron pipe ; but your pipe is much stronger than cast-iron, and 
we hope that its heavy outside and inside coatings make it equally or even 
more durable. Your pipe is easily laid, and your patent joint is very tight 
and strong. We notice that owing to the very smooth surface of the pipe 
it creates very little friction or other resistance to the water. The steam 
pipe leading from our battery of boilers to the pumps is fully fifteen 
hundred feet in length, and the pumps are what are called " Light Service," 
the steam being only two inches greater in diameter than the water cylin- 
ders. The discharge pipe is fourteen hundred feet in length, and rises 
seventy-five feet to the reservoir. Under these difficult conditions we 
rather feared the duty would be too severe for the pumps. But from the 
outs tart the pumps have worked smoothly, easily and at any desired rate of 
speed. This establishes the superiority and freedom from " back pressure " 
of the Blake steam pumps ; also the fact that in your new pipe friction is 
reduced to a minimum. 

Your pipe remains clean, free from the corrosion and "filling up'' 
which are characteristic of cast-iron pipe. 

(Signed) A. A. Hutchinson, 

By C. Cunningham, Superintendent. 



MT. VERNON, INDIANA. 

The following article from the Fire and Water of November 
12, 1892, may be of interest to our readers: 

NOVEL ENGINEERING PLAN. 
By C. D. Barstow. 
The pump house of the Mt. Vernon, (Ind. ) water works is on the 
north bank of the Ohio River, 200 feet distant from low water line. There 
are two pumps, each taking water through a 12-inch (Kalamein) intake pipe 
which extends into the river 150 feet beyond low water line. At this dis- 
tance the water is 18 feet deep. The river bottom is gravel. The intakes 



CONVERSE JOINT FOR SUBMERGED LINES. 115 

were made up of 18-feet lengths of Kalamein pipe. Special sleeves 14 
inches long were used, making the joints in the usual way. On the outer 
end was a length of pipe with its end plugged and its upper half contain- 
ing 1,100 3^ -inch holes, to serve as a strainer. A wrought-iron collar was 
shrunk around the end of this strainer, from which projected two diverging 
legs which, resting on the bottom, held the strainer two feet above the 
bottom. In laying this intake the following method was pursued : Empty 
oil barrels were hired for the work at ten cents each. Three-eighths-inch 
rope was tied around each barrel one-fourth of the length of the barrel 
from each end. Two barrels were tied together side by side and twelve 
inches apart. Two pairs of barrels were placed in the water as near the 
shore as possible, and the strainer length of the pipe was laid between the 
barrels of each pair, so that one pair of floating barrels supported each end 
of the pipe. A second length of pipe was leaded into the end of the 
strainer, and a pair of barrels placed under its shore end, and the whole 
pushed out into the river until one end of the second pipe came as near to 
the water line as the barrel would float. A third pipe was leaded to the 
second and a pair of barrels placed under it, and the three pipes pushed out 
into the river. The work was continued in this way, doing all the work at 
the water's edge, until the strainer length first put on was 150 feet from 
shore. 

To guide the pipe as it was pushed out from shore, and to prevent its 
being carried down stream by the rapid current, two anchor rods of one-inch 
square iron were driven 100 feet up stream from where the intake was to lay, 
and at different distances from the shore. One end of a No. 10 wire was fast- 
ened into the top of each rod before driving, and the other end was tied to the 
pipe. Enough barrels were placed under the pipe to float it at the surface 
of the water. When it was over the position it was to occupy on the river 
bottom, the ropes on alternate pairs of barrels were cut by a chisel attached 
to the end of a twenty-foot pole, and as the barrels were released the pipe 
sank quietly to its position on the river bottom. An iron rod was then 
driven five feet into the gravel on the down-stream side of each length of 
pipe. The top of the rod was bent in a semicircular form, which, hooked 
over the pipe, prevented its rising or being carried down-stream. 

The two intake pipes were laid parallel to each other and six feet apart, 
and were completed by six men working fifteen hours. 

The extending of these pipes from low water line to the pumps, being 
in dry ground, was easily accomplished. 



NATIONAL CITY, CALIFORNIA. 

San Diego Land and Town Co., ) 

National City, Cal., Oct. 29th, 1S92. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your letter of inquiry will say we have in use some 216,601 
feet of your Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, sizes as follows : 

25,903 feet of 12-inch. 

7,260 feet of 8-inch. 

132,333 feet of 6-inch. 

50,745 feet of 4-inch. 



116 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



This pipe has given us good satisfaction in general and in detail. 

(A.) It is under a pressure varying from So pounds down. 

(B.) We are not troubled with leaks ; occasionally a joint leaks which 
only requires re-calking. 

(C.) We cannot give you cost of repairs, as we do not keep separate ac- 
counts with our different kinds of pipe. 

(D.) The present condition of the Kalamein pipe is good. We have 
taken up some of the pipe which was laid in the lowlands which are some- 
what marshy, and relaid it again with good results in the higher lands. 

(E.) We have been forcibly impressed with its economy in lead, labor, 
handling and laying. It gives us no trouble in relaying, as we have had oc- 
casion to take up and relay several miles of it of the different sizes. 

(F.) The soil in which it is laid is very diversified, varying from a cob- 
blestone gravel, down through a disintegrated granite loam to a marsh bot- 
tom land at high tide level. 

(G.) The internal surface throughout is decidedly good, and free from 
deposits. 

(H.) It has no effect on the water. I think we can send you a piece 
(sample) of the marsh bottom land pipe should you desire to see the excel- 
lent condition of it. 

Wherever we are laying a section of pipe to be especially durable we 
use the Kalamein pipe in preference to cast-iron pipes. 

(Signed) H. N. Savage, Hydraulic Engineer, 

San Diego Land and Town Company. 



San Diego Land and Town Company, ") 
National City, Cal., Nov. 29, 1892. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

I inclose you condensed statement regarding dam, reservoir and distri- 
bution system, and will give you any further information you desire. 
(Signed) H. N. Savage, Hydraulic Engineer, 

San Diego Land and Town Company. 

Sweet- Water Dam : Built by the San Diego Land and Town Company 
across the Sweet-Water River to impound flood water from annual winter 
rains, for irrigating the Company's extensive lemon and orange lands and 
for municipal supply. 

Height of dam above sea level, 215 feet. 

Height of dam above foundation, 90 feet. 

Length of dam on top, 396 feet. 

Thickness of dam at bottom, 46 feet. 

Thickness of dam on top, 12 feet. 

Plan : Arched against the reservoir with a radius of 222 feet. 

Material : 20,507 cubic yards of masonry, composed of dark blue and 
gray metamorphic rock impregnated with iron and best Portland cement. 

Foundation : Continuous solid rock in ledge, making the structure a 
monolith. Construction was begun in 18S6 and completed in 188S. 

Cost : $234,000. 

Capacity: Of storage reservoir 6,000,000,000 gallons, which is equal to 
18,000 acre irrigation feet of water, forming a lake 3^4 miles long and % 
mile wide, overflowing 700 acres of land. 



KALAMEIN PIPE CHEERFULLY RECOMMENDED. 117 

Distribution Pipe System : Is under a head varying from 200 feet down 
and consists of one hundred miles of main pipes, from 36-inch diameter 
down. 

Outside of main conduit Kalamein tube pipe is used for all laterals 
wherever pressure requires thoroughly reliable pipe. 

(Signed) H. N. Savage, Hydraulic Engineer, 

San Diego Land and Town Company. 



San Diego Land and Town Company, \ 
National City, Cat., March 6th, 1893. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

I duly received yours of the 25th ult., with draft inclosed for 50 un- 
mounted photos and request for additional pipe data. 

Regarding our experience with Kalamein pipe will say it has given us 
good satisfaction in general and in detail, and although the soil in some 
places where we have the pipe laid is impregnated with alkali, the exterior 
of the pipe shows no effect of corrosion, or action of the soil except where it 
comes in contact with the blue (salt) marsh mud, in which soil it occasion- 
ally gives us a little trouble. 

H. N. Savage, Ilydraulic Engineer. 



NEVADA CITY/, CALIFORNIA. 

Nevada City, Cat., Dec. 14th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor about the Converse Dock Joint pipe, will say that 
our experience is very limited, having handled only one lot. That lot, how- 
ever, has done its work well and gives the very best satisfaction. The 
method of coupling is very simple and handy and can be put together much 
easier and quicker than the common screw joint. 

(Signed) Degg & Shaw. 



NEWMAN, CALIFORNIA. 

Newman, Cat., Dec. 4th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 2d inst. The Converse Kalameined pipe which we 
purchased of you has given us excellent satisfaction, being easily laid and is 
very durable ; thus far no leaks or breaks have occurred. 

We can cheerfully recommend the pipe to all water companies laying 
new pipes. 

(Signed) Newman Water Co., 

E. S. WangEnhEim, Secretary. 



Newman, Cat., Oct. 20th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to yours of October 14th, briefly, I would state that our plant 
has been in operation four years, that there has not been a single leak or a 



118 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



single expense to the Converse Tock Joint Kalamein pipes, and that in every 
possible feature it has given excellent satisfaction. 

(Signed) J. Wangenheim, Prest., 

Newman Water Works. 



OGDEN, UTAH. 

Ogden, Utah, December ist, 1889. 
To the Honorable the Mayor and City Council. 

I herewith submit a report of investigation made by myself, in connec- 
tion with J. U. Armstrong and John R. Bothwell, in regard to pipe for the 
Ogden city water system. 

The first place visited was the town of Savanna, in the State of Illinois, 
where the pipe known as "Kalamein pipe" is used exclusively. The 
Mayor of the city treated us with great courtes}-, and invited us to visit the 
water works and examine the system for ourselves. A trench was dug down 
and the pipe closely examined — some of the asphaltum coating being re- 
moved. We found the pipe as bright as when it left the foundry, there 
being no signs of rust or corrosion. The whole system had been subjected 
to a pressure of 230 pounds to the square inch without revealing any imper- 
fection either in the pipe or connections. The Mayor and many of the 
prominent citizens were enthusiastic in praise of their water system, and 
declared their unbounded confidence in the strength and durability of the 
Kalamein pipe. 

The next place visited was the city of Muskegon, Mich. This is one of 
the largest lumbering cities of the United States, and in places the streets 
are largely made of sawdust and refuse from the mills, the acids from which 
are very destructive to common iron, so much so that the Water Comniis 
siouers informed us that some of the common iron service pipe had entirely 
rusted away in less than three years, while the Kalamein pipe, which had 
been in the ground for eight 3 ears, showed no signs of rust or corrosion. A 
prominent gentleman of the city showed us a piece of Kalamein pipe which 
he assured us had laid in a salt brine for seven years, and yet there was no 
indication of rust. 

At Fort Gratiot, on the St. Clair river, in eastern Michigan, and also in 
the city of St. Clair, the pipes were examined with the same result. At the 
former place we were shown a section of pipe which had been cut off and 
taken up for the purpose of making a connection. This gave us an oppor- 
tunity for examining the inside of the pipe, which had laid in the ground 
for four years. We found the inside as clean and smooth as when first laid. 
It is claimed, and I think reasonably, that the Kalamein pipe will deliver 
from 20 to 25 per cent, more water under the same pressure than cast-iron 
pipe of the same size, on account of the greater smoothness of the inside 
surface. This is an important feature in favor of the Kalamein pipe. It is 
also less liable to hold accumulations of minerals contained in the water (if 
there should be any) than the rough surface of cast-iron pipe. 

We were shown a piece of cast-iron pipe taken up at Pittsburgh after 
being in the ground seventeen years, that was so coated with mineral, both 
inside and out, that it would hardly be recognized as a piece of pipe, the 
inside being filled up more than one-half. 



EVERY PIECE OF PIPE TESTED. 119 



We then visited the foundry where the Kalarnein pipe is manufactured, 
which is situated fifteen miles east of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela river. 
The works cover between thirty and forty acres of ground, and a force of 
five thousand men is constantly employed manufacturing pipe from one-half 
inch to two feet in diameter. The output of these works is eight hundred 
tons daily. Here we were given an opportunity to see the whole process of 
making pipe from the time the pig-iron was put into the furnace, through 
all the various processes of refining the iron, until it came out finished pipe. 
Every piece of pipe, both large and small, is tested by hydraulic pressure. 
That offered for our water system will be tested to five hundred pounds to 
the square inch. 

After a thorough investigation of the matter, I am fully convinced of 
the strength and durability of the Kalarnein pipe. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

(Signed) S. M. Preshaw. 

PIPE CONTRACT. 
The Supervisor of Pipe Laying on the Water Works is Here. 

James Barnes, who is to supervise the work of laying the pipes for the 
Ogden distributive water system, arrived in this city yesterday morning, 
bringing with him a letter of introduction to Mr. Funge. He was taken 
from St. Louis works, now being reconstructed, and sent out here to meet 
the demand for immediate construction. A letter from the National Tube 
Works Company states they last week shipped a whole train of pipe and on 
the 29th they sent ten more carloads. 

Some of the pipe was expected in last night and on Monday Mr. Funge 
will be ready with a force of men and teams to begin the immediate distri- 
bution of the pipe. Mr. Barnes will have charge of the entire work of the 
Tube Works Company connected with the Bear River Canal Company. He 
is a man of exceptional ability, judging from his appearance and conversa- 
tion, and the large number of important works of which he has had charge. 
The workmen for laying the pipe have all been employed here and every- 
thing will run along smoothly and successfully. — Ogden {Utah) Standard, 
March 26, 1SS9. 

Ogden, Utah, Oct. 26th, 1890. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I desire to make the following general statement in regard to my work 
as expert in pipe laying and in charge of laying all of the water pipe in the 
new water works system recently constructed and completed by me in the 
City of Ogden, Utah. 

In regard to the amount of material placed in position in this water 
works will state that the same amounted to the following, the measurement, 
being after pipe had been laid : 

92,000 feet of 6-inch pipe. 

13,800 feet of 10-inch pipe. 

16,000 feet of 12-inch pipe. 

8,900 feet of 16-inch pipe. 

8,150 feet of 18-iuch pipe. 



120 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



3,150 feet of 20-inch pipe. 

About 250 special castings in sizes ranging from 6 to 20 inches. 

1 12-6 inch double gate Ludlow valves. 

2-10 inch double gate Ludlow valves. 

6-12 inch double gate Ludlow valves. 

1-16 inch double gate Ludlow valve. 

1-20 inch double gate Ludlow valve. 

125 valve boxes. 

77 double nozzle Ludlow hydrants. 

We commenced work on the 17th of June and completed the entire 
work in about 70 working days. 

The pipe was all of your Kalamein and Asphalted Converse Lock Joint 
Pipe, and the fittings were all Converse lock joint. To show you how fast 
we got the pipe in, when the conditions were favorable, I will say, that one 
day with 10 men all told we laid 3,850 feet of 6-inch, and we could have laid 
more that day but I was delayed by not having more pipe on the ground on 
that line. 

At another time I put in 759 feet of 6-inch and buckled the pipe into the 
crosses at the ends, and three calkers and two laborers did all the work in 
just 55 minutes. 

About the toughest part of the work was on the 20-inch line where the 
pipe had to be taken from near the side of the road and carried and rolled 
over and between the rocks and boulders, which was of itself a good deal of 
a job as you understand, but I laid all of the 20-inch (3,150 feet) in exactly 
two days and a half. 

The preliminary test after the works were finished, under a pressure of 
100 pounds to the square inch, developed the fact that we had no leaky 
joints ; not a bad joint had been made in the entire pipe line. This I con- 
sider a very creditable showing, even if I do say it myself. We found six 
cracked bells on the six-inch mains, which were evidently cracked in trans- 
porting and were laid in the ditch without being discovered. We also blew 
out one 12-inch plug, and after replacing the bells and plug and again apply- 
ing the pressure, we found the entire system to be tight and ready for use. 

The City Council then made an official test of the system and it was 
with such satisfactory results that the works were officially accepted by the 
City Council at a special meeting called the next day after the test. 

It did not take us but four hours to make all of the repairs on the broken 
bells and replace the plugs. These four hours and expense of not exceeding 
$10, represent the entire cost of getting the system into complete working 
condition and ready for the final test after the preliminary test was made. 

As near as I could ascertain from the Chief Engineer in charge (I was 
not near the places when the gauges were on), the pressure on the final test 
was in the neighborhood of 260 pounds to the square inch. 

The works are, as you are aware, a gravity works, and the pressure is 
entirely due to the head of water as it comes from the Ogden Canon. 

I have laid many hundreds of miles of water and gas mains, and I never 
before have known or had in my experience such a thoroughly complete and 
perfect and tight line, and one that required so little attention. And when 
these works are all finished, it is my opinion as an expert, that the Ogden 
water works will be one of the most complete, well designed and thoroughly 



EXPOSED TO TIDE WATER FOR FIVE YEARS. 121 

equipped water works in the United States, and one that Ogden should be 
proud of. 

The supply will be taken from the Ogden River at an average elevation 
above the center of the city of 350 feet, which represents the minimum head, 
which will be on the system at all times. 

As far as it goes, this report recites the facts, and may interest you. 

I presume, however, that you have been kept posted during the progress 
of the work. 

(Signed) J as. Barnes, 

Engineer in charge of pipe laying. 



Copy of circular letter dated, New York, Nov. 3d, 1890. 
No. 635. 

You will all be interested to know that the test has just taken place at 
Ogden, and under 100 pounds pressure only one plug and a few defective 
bells were developed. Clippings from the Ogden papers indicate that the 
test was a complete success, and that the works are popular with the owners, 
citizens and city officials. 

(Signed) E. C. Converse, General Manager. 



OLD TACOMA, WASHING-TON. 

Oed Tacoma, Wash., Dec. 10th, 1889. 
National Tube }} T orks Co. 

Your Converse Lock Joint Pipe has given entire satisfaction at this mill. 

Have found it the cheapest pipe to lay. Had occasion to take up a line of 

four-inch pipe last year that had been exposed to the action of tide water for 

five years. It was found as bright and black as new, and is again in use. 

This pipe is certainly perfection for water mains. 

(Signed) J. J. Hicks, Jr., 

Master Mechanic Tacoma Mills. 



Oregon City, Ore., December 5th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

As to the satisfaction the Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Water 
Pipe is giving, and, further, in answer to your letter of October 20th, would 
say : 

We have 2 x / 2 miles of 4-inch to 10-inch Kalamein pipe in use. 

Amount of pressure it is carrying, 170 lbs. per square inch. 

Breaks, if any, none ; have had three or four leaks. 

Cost of repairs, perhaps $5 in all. 

Present condition of the pipe, good. 

Economy of lead and labor in laying, about one-half that of cast-iron 
pipe. 

Character of soil in which it is laid, sand. 

Internal condition, with reference to cleanliness, good. 

Effect, if any, on the water, none whatever. 



122 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



How it compares with cast-iron pipe, about the same, but I prefer 
Kalamein pipe. 

(Signed) W. H. Howei,i„ 

Supt. Water Works, Oregon City, Ore. 



OTTUMWA, IOWA. 

Ottumwa, Iowa, April iSth, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor duly received. We have used your light wrought pipe 
here in our extensions since the fall of 1878, and it has given satisfaction. 
We shall, during the present year, put in another line of it. 

(Signed) Ottumwa Water Works. 



OURAY, COLORADO. 

In answer to a letter addressed to the Water Works at this 
point, asking for an expression of their opinion of Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Pipe as compared with other kinds, we received 
the following: 

Ouray, Colo., Nov. 25th, 189-2. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I will try to answer your questions on this paper as I will have more 
space. 

Amount of pressure, 125 pounds. 

Breaks, if any — during my time as superintendent, 2 years — 2 leaks. 
Annual cost of repairs, $4.00. 
Present condition of pipe, good. 
Economy of lead and labor in laying, one-half. 

Character of soil in which it is laid, gravel, with mineral hot water run- 
ning through it, which is very hard on pipe. 
Effect, if any, on the water, none. 
How it compares with cast-iron pipe, very favorably. 

(Signed) Finley McDonald, Supt. , 

Water Works. 



PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA. 

Palo Alto Ranch, Cai,., Feb. 10th, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your request regarding the lap-welded pipe, I would state 
that from my experience with other kinds which I have laid, I consider the 
one in question by far the best for water mains. It is the cheapest and 
the easiest and the quickest to lay down, and having no cut threads it can 
be handled and transported with less fear of injury. I have used consider- 
able of it for water mains here on Gov. Stanford's estate, tapping it where- 
ever I pleased, using a reducing saddle and branching off with smaller screw 
joint pipe. 



WROUGHT IRON PIPE BEST AND CHEAPEST. 123 

I have never been troubled with leaks, and if it is well manufactured 
(as such sold by you to us is) and properly laid, I can recommend it most 
highly. 

(Signed) Ai,fre;d PoETT, C. E. 



PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA. 

Paso RobeES, Cae., Dec. 6th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of Dec. 2d, 1889, I am pleased to say the Converse 
Joint Pipe, which you shipped us, has given perfect satisfaction in every 
particular. The method of coupling is the most convenient of any coupling 
we have ever used. 

(Signed) Paso Robi.es Water Co. , 

J. W. Garren, Manager. 



PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA. 

PETAeuma, Cae., Feb. 21st, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In April, 1876, this Company conveyed water from Fitch Mountain to 
and through the principal streets of the City of Healdsburg, a distance of 
four miles, using your lap-welded pipe, from six to three inches in diameter. 
The water has a fall of 132 feet and, up to this time (a period of nearly 
three years), not a single joint has leaked, nor have we expended a dollar, 
or an hour's labor in keeping the pipes in perfect order. 

From our experience we are convinced that your lap-welded pipe is the 
best and cheapest that can be used by water companies. 

(Signed) F. T. Maynard, 

Healdsburg Water Co. 



PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The following is a copy of a letter from R. G. Chase & 
Company, of Philadelphia, who have given us an order for pipe 
coated with Maltha, for the conveyance of pure water for drink- 
ing purposes, after having thoroughly investigated the same. 

PhieadEEPHIA, Pa., June 14th, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Our Mr. H. A. Chase on his return last evening from Chicago, found 
your favor of the 12th awaiting him. Also yours of the 8th enclosing Mr. 
Lamb's letter of the 6th is at hand this morning, via Chicago, having been 
forwarded to Mr. Chase there, but he had left before it was received. 

Mr. Chase made a very careful examination of the water as delivered at 
the Fair Grounds, and also at the Wabash Avenue office, above iSth Street, 
and finds that the Maltha coated pipe does not impart any taste to the water, 
consequently he telegraphed you and wrote you from Chicage to fill our 
order. At the Wabash Avenue distributing room he found that there seems 



124 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



to be considerable of the coating" scaling from the pipe, but he is not satisfied 
in his mind that this is any fault of the coating or of the manner in which it 
is applied. Anyway we are satisfied to risk it, and you are at liberty to 
refer any " Doubting Thomas " to us. 

(Signed) R. G. Chase & Co. 



PHOENIX, ARIZONA. 

Phcenix, Ariz., Dec. ist, 1889. 
Natio?ial Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of November 26th, containing inquiry in regard to our opin- 
ion of the relative worth of Converse Joint Pipe as compared with others, 
received, and would say in reply that we think your Kalamein pipe the best 
pipe in the market. 

In putting in this plant we saved some $ 16,000.00 in freight alone, by 
using Converse Joint, to say nothing of the saving of labor in handling, 
thus insuring greater speed of laying. In our case the entire pipe plant was 
laid at an expense for labor of about 1%. cents per foot. The pipe is con- 
stantly put to a test pressure of 150 lbs. and over, with very satisfactory re- 
sults. 

(Signed) Phcenix Water Works Co. 

Per]. M. Gardiner, Supt. 



The Phcenix Water Company. ) 

Phcenix, Arizona, Nov. 5th, 1892. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

I beg leave to submit the following in answer to your circular letter of 
inquiry of Oct. 14th : 

Mains carry pressure of 43 pounds. 

Have had four or five leaks in the past two years. 

Annual cost of repairs is not much, as the above will show. 

The pipe seems to be in very good condition at present both oiitside 
and in. 

Cannot say anything as to the economy in lead and laying as the pipe 
was not laid by this company, and I know nothing about the construction. 

The soil is principally sand and loam, with occasional patches of 
adobe. 

It does not seem to have any effect on the water. We have no cast-iron 
pipe in the city. Only your pipe and a riveted steel pipe. 

I hope this will cover the ground fully, in answer to your inquiries. 
(Signed) H. F. Robinson, Acting Secretary. 



PIERRE, DAKOTA. 

Pierre, Dak., Jan. 8th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to whether Kalamein pipe has given satisfaction at this place, 
would say that it has given entire satisfaction. 

We have had nearly 6 miles of 12, 10, 8 and 6-inch pipe in use since 



KALAMEIN PIPE REQUIRED FOR SERVICES. 125 

Aug. 1885, and that in that length of time has not given any signs of corro- 
sion, either internally or externally, but presents the same appearance as 
when first put in use. An internal examination shows no accumulations of 
any kind, and that the water takes no color from it. And also that the per- 
centage of leaks at joints are very small, as the Converse lock makes a very 
rigid and almost impossible joint to pull apart. And we also find that in 
putting in extra specials it can be very quickly done, and the laying of this 
pipe is not nearly so expensive as cast-iron. 

We have had a stated pressure of 1 io_^ lbs. At a recent fire my pressure 
on the gauges suddenly went to 60 lbs. and as quickly went to 245, caused by 
my suddenly opening several hydrants. I, of course, expected to find several 
bad leaks after such a water hammer, but have yet developed none. 

We require that either lead or Kalamein pipe be used from our mains to 
curb. I mail you to-day some soil, which appears to have an acid, or some 
substance that soon eats up common pipe, but has no effect on Kalamein. 
I had some plain pipe taken up after being in only six months, which was 
entirely rotten, while the Kalamein was perfectly sound. If above is of any 
benefit to you, you are at perfect liberty to use it. 

(Signed) J. W. Gray, Supt. Water Works. 



Pierre, S. d., Oct. 25th, 1889. 
J. R. Bothwell, Esq., Ogden, Utah. 

I am in receipt of a letter from Mr. H. E. Keeler, of the National Tube 
Works Co., requesting me to write you my experience with Kalamein water 
pipe, and write you as follows : That we have the pipe in use in our system 
here and found it to give entire satisfaction in every way, especially as to 
its large carrying capacity, owing to its smooth interior, as the Converse Iyock 
Joint leaves the pipe at the joints perfectly parallel with each other and it is 
much more easily laid than cast pipe, and also that in a great many cases I 
can avoid the use of specials, and after some very severe tests for durability 
have found it all that it is represented. As to strength, would say that I 
have had a pressure of 300 pounds, and found no defects or leaks either in 
the body of pipe or joints when properly calked. At our works here we 
have a constant pressure of 115 pounds, and it gives us no trouble. 

I have used the pipe in several works in which I have charge of con- 
struction and found all the pipe of uniform strength and quality and have 
never found it necessary to have it inspected at mill as is the case with most 
other pipes, and that iu shipping long distances there are no breakages and 
a very large saving in freight bills. I would be pleased to give you any 
information in regard to the pipe or other matters you may wish. 

(Signed) J. W. Troy, Supt. Pierre Water Works Co. 



QUIJOTEA DISTRICT, ARIZONA. 

Peerless Mining Co. 
On February 3d, 1885, we were visited here at the mill by 
Mr. W. H. Patton, Superintendent of the various mines on the 
Comstock lode, and the General Manager of Flood & Mackey's 



126 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



new mines in the Quijotea District of Arizona. Mr. Patton 
wanted to select the best pipe for a water line, and, after various 
tests, among others of which were the proving of a four-inch 
special light pipe to 1,200 pounds pressure per square inch, and 
the testing of a four-inch Converse Lock Joint pipe to 1,000 
pounds pressure per square inch pulling strain, he adopted and 
ordered the shipment of about five miles of Lock Joint pipe, 
which has since given the best of satisfaction. 



QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Ouincy, Mass., March 10th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have connected with our works twenty-three niiles of wrought-iron 
Converse Joint Kalamein pipe of all diameters from four to sixteen inches, 
and it has been in practical operation since March 1, 1884. But two cases 
of defective pipe have been discovered, both of them being repaired at a 
nominal cost without taking out the pipe. Tapping for services is easily 
and quickly done with your service clamp ; at present there are no indica- 
tions of rust or tubercular formation in the pipe. 

Thus far the general results are entirely satisfactory. 
(Signed) F. E. Haix, 

Superintendent Ouincy Water Company. 



Boston, Mass., March 13th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Early in 1883 I laid about eight miles of Converse Joint pipe, Kala- 
meined and coated with asphaltum. The soil was a peculiar mixture of 
clay and gravel, and quite moist. On account of the street being graded, 
we were obliged to take up and re-lay about one-half mile of this in the 
fall of 1884, and it was found to be perfectly free from rust or corrosion of 
any kind. 

At many other points where it had been dug up for the purpose of 
making connections, etc., it has always been found in equally as good con- 
dition. 

In the fall of 1883 and spring of 1884 I laid about twenty miles of this 
pipe ; this was laid through nearly every conceivable soil, from clean dry 
soil to salt marsh, and, as far as known, it is all in good condition to-day. 
Service pipe having been connected with it at different points over its entire 
length, we have had good opportunity to examine it, and have always found 
it perfect. 

(Signed) A. H. Howi^and, Engineer. 



Quincy, Mass., March 17th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of nth inst. The long lengths of your pipe require 
less number of joints per mile than other kinds of pipe, and reduce the 



THE QUINCY CASE. 127 



expense of laying ; also the liability of leaky joints from poor work. The 
smoothness of the inside of this pipe and the close fitting joint allows a 
greater discharge than any other kind of pipe of corresponding size, 
(Signed) F. E. Hall, 

Superintendent Water Co. 



Ouincy, Mass., March 23rd, 1886. 
F. L. Elms, Esq., Charlotte, Mich. 

My attention has been recently called to statements made relating to 
the wrought-iron Kalamein pipe in use here, to this effect, that it has been 
imposssible to make tight joints ; that much of the pipe had to be re-laid 
three and some of it four times before it would hold, on account of its being 
so thin it would crush in when the joints were calked, and finally that it 
rusts badly. Now, I have had the direct care of this pipe since it was laid 
— about two years — and can say there has been no special trouble with 
leaking at the joints, no more than would be with any other kind of pipe ; 
that none of the pipe has been re-laid by reason of any defects in the 
original pipe ; that we have never had a case where the pipe crushed by 
the calking of joints ; and for rust, examination at several points late in 
1885 showed the interior of the pipe to be as clean, clear and free from rust 
as when first laid ; further, that this pipe has thus far proved satisfactory in 
every particular. 

To commence with, our company laid twenty-two and a half miles, of 
all sizes, from 4 to 16 inch inclusive. Last year we made an extension of 
about half a mile of this kind of pipe, and what extensions may be made 
this year will be of the same. This fact alone is conclusive evidence of the 
good results thus far. 

(Signed) F. E. Hall, Supt. 

Boston, March 24th, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

My attention has been called to advices that the Kalamein pipe of 
National Tube Works used in Ouincy was not satisfactory in this particular ; 
that the joints could not be made tight ; that the pipe crushed at the joints 
in calking, and rusted badly. 

In reply, have to say that the joints are tight ; the trouble experienced 
applied to a section laid in severe winter weather, which has been remedied, 
and is now perfectly satisfactory. Our Superintendent, a gentleman who 
has had extensive experience with cast-iron pipes, assures me that the pipe 
had no more trouble from this cause than if cast-iron pipes should have 
been used. The pipe has not crushed at the joints. In regard to rust, have 
to say that the pipe has been laid now for over two years, and when it 
has been laid open for examination, it has been found to be in the very 
best of condition, and I do not hesitate to recommend it from this experi- 
ence made at Ouincy. Allow me to say that no pipe has ever been re-laid. 
The pressure upon the pipes is nearly no pounds to the square inch, a 
pressure not exceeded in more than one or two places in New England. 
The only pipes that have not stood well is a certain part of a 20-inch main 
of cast-iron. Your company not making any larger than 16-inch main at 



128 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the time, we were obliged to use the cast-iron for our 20-inch force main. 
Trusting that this will meet any objection raised because of criticism on 
the Ouincy system of water supply, and being very happy to tell the truth 
in the matter. 

(Signed) Chas. H. Poster, 

President Ouincy Water Co. 



Boston, Mass., March 25th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiries regarding the wrought-iron Kalamein pipe 
laid in Ouincy, Mass., would say that of the 20 miles laid we have had no 
trouble with the joints, neither has there any sign of rust appeared. In 
December of 1884 we laid a part of one street when the mercury was at 
zero ; of course it was too cold to pour lead for good service, and some leaks 
followed, but in the spring we re-calked it some, and the joint has been 
perfect from that time. I have laid a large portion of the Chicopee, Mass., 
Converse Joint water mains with the same success ; also in Sharon and 
Framingham. At the same price per foot, I should greatly prefer your pipe 

to any cast-iron pipe. 

Yours truly, 

W. C. McClaixan, 
Builder of Water and Gas Works. 



On April 30, 1892, the City of Quincy took title to property, 
franchise, etc., of the Ouincy Water Company. A Commission, 
appointed by the Supreme Court, fixed the price at $515,640.07, 
after a long and exhaustive investigation of everything bearing 
upon the question. 

The movement for a municipal works began early in 1891, 
when a plan was submitted to the authorities for the construc- 
tion by the city of a system in opposition to the Quincy Water 
Company, which has been supplying the city since 1884. Al- 
though the franchise under which this private company oper- 
ated reserved to the city the right to acquire the plant under 
certain conditions, and in a certain way, the promoters of the 
proposed new system contemplated totally ignoring the old 
company and paralleling its mains. In their efforts to carry 
their scheme through, a desperate and merciless attack was 
made upon the entire equipment, source of supply, and every- 
thing connected with the old company, the heat of battle and 
severest attack being, next to the source of supply, concentrated 
upon the distributing mains, which are almost entirely composed 
of Converse Lock Joint Pipe, the exception being a short line 
of 12-inch cast-iron pipe, and a few scattering unimportant 
extensions. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 129 



Experts (?), either in the employ or in the interest of cast- 
iron pipe foundries, were brought to testify against Converse 
Joint Pipe, and everything that an evil mind could contrive was 
done to create the belief in the minds of the citizens, the council- 
men, and the Commission that was afterwards appointed to take 
testimony in the matter, that our pipe was little better than no 
pipe at all. 

But we will not enlarge upon the subject. We will give 
you an exact copy of the entire testimony referring to the pipe, 
both pro and con, and you will see what a bitter and unscrupulous 
attack was made, and how utterly the schemers failed of their 
purpose. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the pipe had for eight years 
been delivering water, which at times carried large quantities of 
decomposed vegetable matter, the very life and body of tuber- 
cles and fungus growth, samples of the pipe taken up and 
examinations made at different points were visible, and incontro- 
vertible evidence that the pipe was clean and smooth, and in as 
good condition as when first put down. 

We need say nothing further than to invite your careful 
attention to the award of the Commission, copy of which follows 
the appended extracts. 

We do not print the complete testimony, as it is very volumi- 
nous, covering more than 1,000 pages of closely type-written 
manuscript. Should the good faith of these extracts at any 
time be called in question, however, we will be pleased to send 
you copy of the complete testimony, that any one who may 
desire so to do may convince himself of their integrity. 

The early part of the investigation was heard before the 
State Board of Health in Boston ; then there were special meet- 
ings of Council at Quincy, and later a Commission was appointed 
by the Supreme Court to determine the value of the franchise, 
corporate property, etc., the Commissioners appointed being 
Hon. John Lowell, Hon. E. H. Bennett, and Charles Clifford, Esq. 

The extracts follow: 

Hearing Before State Board of Health, ) 
20 Beacon St., Boston, Feb. 3, 1891. J 

Remarks of Dr. Gordon. 
We built our water works in the very best manner that water works 
could be built from the knowledge that we had. We put in 21 miles of 
main. We increased these 21 miles of main to 35 miles, and we have two 
miles of main we are going to put down. We drew our water from a well, 
as you know. 



130 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Green Room, State House, ) 
Boston, April 8, 1891. j 

Testimony of Percy M. Beake. 

O. {By IV. G. A. Paltee.) Have you made any examination of the pipes 
used by the present company ? 

A. I have made no examination of those pipes, for the very reason they 
are buried up, but the material of which those pipes are made is not at all 
unknown. It is very well understood what those pipes are and what the ma- 
terial is. I can only say — perhaps it would be in a general way, but it must 
be regarded as of some value — that the material of which those pipes are 
made has been the subject of so much doubt and so much skepticism on the 
part of those who have the ordering and designing of works of this 
kind, that I may safely say, there are no cities or towns in New England 
that I am aware of, with the exception of Ouincy and South Framingham, 
which works were built under the same management, and by the same con- 
tracting firm as Ouincy, and one or two small towns where a small quantity 
was used, mainly because it could be used cheaper than cast-iron pipe, there 
are no towns or cities w T here it has been used, and I have never known of 
an instance in Massachusetts where specifications prepared for work of this 
kind by reputable engineers, who were not interested perhaps, in some 
speculative scheme, where the specification has called for the use of ma- 
terial of this kind. It has found its sale in the West, where freights consti- 
tute such a large item that they can afford to introduce new pipes every 
twenty years, rather than pay the freight on the ordinary cast-iron pipe. 

O. What is the kind of pipe now used by the Ouincy Water Company? 

A. It is a superior quality, a first-class quality of wrought-iron pipe. 
There is no question as to the quality of the wrought iron. It is as good as 
the best wrought iron, and is made in the very best way by the most perfect 
process employed by the manufacturers of pipes of that kind. It, however, 
depends solely for its durability upon a certain coating, a coating which is 
made from a formula which is not public. But a wrought iron pipe, as is 
well known, is the most treacherous material which can be put in the ground 
or subjected to the action of water, that is, unprotected wrought-iron. 
Wherever it is used, even for small pipes, for service pipes, it is protected by 
some coating, and it is never used for important cases. The best authorities 
always recommend and use standard cast-iron pipe. There is no question 
about the strength of this pipe. The tensile strength of the metal is easily 
tested, and is all right, but the question of durability is one in which the 
chances are so great against the use of this material that it has not been gen- 
erally adopted. 

Q. Mr. Blake, concerning the joining of the present pipes, such as you 
speak of, as used by the present water company there, do you know how 
the joints are made tight ? 

A. Well, you mean the joints by which the mains are put together. 
I have no particular experience with those joints, but they are made by a 
mechanical contrivance, which, I think, if properly and honestly put to- 
gether, ought to be reasonably durable. It is a straight, ordinary driven 
lead joint, made in a cast-iron joint. 

Q. Do you know whether, when they tap one of their mains, they 
have to put a band around or not, in order to enable them to tap it ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 131 



A. I am told that bands are required ; yes, sir. There certainly is not 
thickness enough of metal to hold a screw. 

O. What is the thickness of the pipes, if you know ? 

A. The thickness will vary perhaps from 2/i6ths to 5 or 6/32ds, the 
metal is very thin. It is thick enough to stand the pressure provided it 
does not become impaired by rust and the pipe is properly made. There is 
no question about the strength. 

O. {By the Committee.) How thin is the coating that is on there ? 

A. I have examined the coating on some pipes of this sort, picked it 
off and hammered it off. It is on extremely thin. I doubt whether it is 
more than i/6oth or i/8oth or i/iooth of an inch. In samples, where it is 
thoroughly applied, the fibrous structure of the iron will show through. 
It is a thin coating very thoroughly applied, so far as the application goes. 

O. {By Mr. Pattee.) As to the expense of this pipe, are you familiar 
with that ? 

A. Well, at the time this pipe came out and its adoption was urged, I 
was besieged, as I presume other engineers were, by agents, and I was given 
to understand that the cost of that pipe laid at that time— cast-iron pipe 
then being worth about $32 per ton — was about two-thirds that of cast-iron. 
Whether or not that was fixed as the intrinsic value of the material or not, 
or whether it was a price offered to secure introduction, I am unable to say. 
I am inclined to think it was a little of both. I think the pipe must cer- 
tainly be made very cheaply, and, at the same time, but with cast-iron pipe 
at the present prices, I should say this could be furnished a little less than 
cast-iron ; but, at the time it was put in, in this particular case, it was put 
in from two-thirds to three quarters of the cost of standard cast-iron pipe in 
use at that time. 

O. That {referring to list of stockholders) is for the year 1S90 ? 

A. This is for the year 1889. Nothing has been filed for 1890. I was 
told that it had not been thought desirable to inflate the capital any further 
until this matter was settled. But on the 15th of November, 1889, the assets 
were as follows: Real estate, 112,134.32; buildings, $6,000 ; machinery, 
$25,000 ; cash and debts receivable, $47.46 ; water mains and easements, 
$464,762.69, which is supposed to cover everything except pumping station 
and real estate ; and, if out of that is taken the property which is assessed 
in Braintree at $75,000, the cost of the remaining laud, the piping and 
hydrants becomes about $390,000. In comparison with that particular 
item, the total cost of piping the system complete of the new plant, using 
standard cast-iron pipes, paying the old market price for them, or $2 a ton 
more than they now can be obtained for, 37 miles, the piping alone would be 
$291,000, a difference of about $roo,ooo for the pipe alone. And, it is safe 
to assume that the original piping of the company cost considerably less 
than the standard cast-iron pipes at the same time. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Have you examined any of this pipe that has 
been in use for any length of time in Ouiucy to see whether it has become 
impaired ? 

A. I have not seen any of the Ouincy pipe. 

O. Now, I do not understand that. Do you know anything about 
these samples yourself? 

A. Not about these samples. My samples are in my office. 

Q. So you do not testify anything about that. 



132 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Green Room, State House, ) 
Boston, April 15, 1891. f 

Cross-Examination of J. Edwards. 

O. (By the Chairman.) You stated that you believed that the city 
should own its own system of water supply. Do you believe that the city 
should put in an independent water supply, entirely independent of 
the water supply which is now furnished — entirely independent of those 
works ? 

A. Well, if those could be utilized to carry the water through the pipes 
1 should be willing to pay a fair price. T have no antipathy against the 
water company at all, but what I would like is a good system of good 
water; and if the water pipes could be used, could be utilized, I would be 
perfectly willing that the city should buy and pay a fair price for it. 

O. That is, if the works of the present company could be used you 
would be willing to do that ? 

A. Yes, sir ; I should be willing. I should be more than willing. I 
should be willing to pay 50$ more than they are worth, because there are 
some of the water companies that I have great respect for. I shouldn't 
like to see them lose a dollar in money. And others I have no respect for 
whatever. 

O. (By Mr. Go ul ding.) Speaking of the desirability of having the city 
own the water works, you do not regard it as a good thing for the City 
of Ouiucy to have two independent companies there digging up their streets 
and putting down pipes ? 

A. I care nothing about digging up streets. I would like to have 
the city have good water. 

O. Well, you think they ought to have it by taking these works, do 
you not, at what they are worth ? 

A. No, sir. The pipe I would be very glad, and like to have them 
take, but all the extra expense they have put there I shouldn't want the 
cuVy to pay for. 

In Committee on Water Suppey, ) 

Green Room, State House, [• 

Boston, April 23, 1891. ) 

Testimony of Lucien A. Tayeor. 

O. (By Mr. Colliding.) Now, with regard to the kind of pipe they 
use — this wrought-iron pipe ; are you familiar with that ? 

A. I am familiar with it in this way : I have not used it myself; I 
have seen samples of it, and certainly I cannot perceive, personally, any 
objection to it. It is certainly very strong, and although most engineers 
use cast-iron pipes, perhaps, still cast-iron pipe is not by any means perfect ; 
it has to be renewed the same as other kinds. And I should feel perfectly 
safe in using that kind of pipe, if there was any particular object in 
doing so. 

Q. Have you examined the question of the sufficiency of the distribu- 
tion pipes for the town ? 

A. I have ; yes, sir. 

O. What do you say about that ? 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 133 



A. I know this, that for the present time it is ample. I know this, that 
in the extensions, with the superintendent I have looked over the plans and 
maps to see how in the future extensions would be provided to the districts 
they were supposed to supply, would supply, and the pipes would be propor- 
tioned to the areas they were to cover. And it has also been the plan, I 
believe, at some future time, when necessary, to erect a stand-pipe at Wollas- 
ton. I think that has been in contemplation whenever the necessity of the 
case required it. 

O. (By Mr. Pattee. ) Now, Mr. Taylor, in regard to the sufficiency of 
the distributing pipes, did you ever have brought to your attention the ques- 
tion about the extension of the pipes to Cuiincy Neck ? 

A. No, sir ; I don't think I have ever known anything about that. 

O. Are you aware of the fact that the present water company refused 
to extend their pipes because the distributing pipes of that town were too 
small for them to guarantee the extension ? 

A. I don't know now about that, though that might very well be and 
still the system might be properly carried out. 

O. There would be a case, if the water company had refused to extend 
their pipes to Ouincy Point because the supplying main at the nearest point 
was not large enough ? 

A. Well, in my experience that thing has happened a very great many 
times in the City of Worcester. 

O. There would be a case where the distributing system was defective ? 

A. I should not say so at all, not at all. 

O. Why not? 

A. Because it would be proposed to take the main supply, when exten- 
sions were made, from another direction, from a shorter distance, or a more 
feasible source, a more feasible distance, or something of that nature. 

O. But if they refused to extend their pipes because the supplying 
pipe at the nearest main was too small, you would say it was defective in 
that particular place, would you not ? 

A. Well, I should look at it, it might be defective at that particular 
point ? 

O. Yes. 

A. No, I should not say it was defective, not necessarily : it might or 
might not be. 

O. Mr. Taylor, concerning the quality of the pipe, if you had a system 
of water works to put in, with your experience, and left entirely to your 
own judgment as to the kind of pipe to be put in, if the matter was left 
entirely to your own judgment, would you put in the kind that has been 
used in the Ouincy system ? 

A. That would depend on the expense. 

O. Well, I say if it was left entirely to your judgment, no question of 
limiting you by expense, or anything else, but left entirely to your judg- 
ment? 

A. I think I should put in cast-iron. 

O. Put in such as in Ouincy, do you mean ? 

A. That is not cast-iron except the force main. I suppose the force 
main is. 

Q. Then you would not put in the kind that is used in Quincy ? 



134 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Not as a rule, unless there was some special 

O. Unless there was some special circumstance ? 

A. If the pipe was cheap enough 

Q. I am supposing that it was left entirely to your judgment and you 
were not limited in any way, shape or manner? 

A. Well, no. So far as the quality of the pipe is concerned, I think it 
is perfectly good. I know this, that people like a thing best they know 
most about ; in some cases they do not. 

Q. Yes, that is a very fair answer. 

A. But so far as the quality of the pipe is concerned, I would never 
condemn it because it had not been used, but I have not had experience my- 
self. I have known this pipe. 

O. As a matter of fact, it has not been very largely used, has it ? 

A. Not East, not in this section of the country. 

O. And I suppose the soil, especially through Ouincy, is more or less 
affected by the salt from the sea ? 

A. I don't know. I suppose in some sections it might be. I don't 
know however. I suppose, as far as that is concerned, that the feeder would 
be the same down there as the main pipe, that is, it is put in the same man- 
ner on the outside. 

O. Well, your experience — I suppose you have had some experience 
in the West, have you not ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Have not? 

A. No, sir : no experience in the West. 

Testimony of Frank E. Hai.1,. 

O. {By Mr. Goidding.) Mr. Frank E. Hall? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are superintendent of these works ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How long have you been there ? 

A. Since 1884. 

Q. Won't you state as to the extent of your distributing system and 
how far you have extended it during the past few years ; make a brief state- 
ment of facts about it. 

A. The present system of distribution consists of 33}^ miles of pipe, 
ranging from 4 to 20 inches in diameter, covering most of the thickly settled 
portions of Ouincy. On those 33^ miles of pipe the town or city of Quincy 
has placed at different times 101 hydrants. There are also 18 hydrants that 
are paid for by private parties. 

Q. {By Mr. Robinson.) Besides the 101 ? 

A. Besides the 101. One hundred and one hydrants by the city, 17 are 
paid for by private parties and one that is not paid for by any one. The 
pumping plant consists of two pumps of 2,000,000 gallons daily capacity 
each, run by four horizontal steam boilers. That, in brief, is a general 
description of the system. 

Q. (By Mr. Goidding.) How much within the past three years have 
you extended your system ? 

A. In the year 1890 something more than 3^ miles of main was laid ; 



THE QUINCY CASE. 135 



iu the year 1889 about two miles ; the year previous there was between one 
and two miles. The original contract, or as the works were left in the 
summer of 1884, contained about 21 miles of distribution, possibly 2iJ^. It 
has been increased every year, until the present time, until we have 2>2> l A 
miles ; that has been the increase in the last six years. 

In Committee on Water Supply, ) 

Green Room, State House. [- 

Boston, April 23, 1891, 2 P. M. ) 

Testimony oe James H. Seade. 
A. Now, there have been a great many statements made by those 
representing the town of Quincy. In the first place, the pipe which has 
been used by this company has been criticised as sheet-iron, as worthless ; 
and I have found among the people in my district that a great many persons 
think this pipe is exceedingly flimsy, that it is liable to burst, that it will 
not be durable ; and when I, who have known something about iron and 
known something about pipe long before these works were built, have 
explained to them the nature and character of the pipe, I have found that 
their opposition disappeared. 

Testimony oe Peter W. French. * 

O. (By Mr. Gouldiug.) What is your full name ? 

A. Peter W. French. 

O. What is your business ? 

A. Secretary of the National Tube Works Company. 

O. Where is that company's plant located ? 

A. McKeesport, Pa., near Pittsburg, about ten miles from there. 

O. Do you manufacture pipe such as that used by the Ouincy Water 
Works ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How many men do you employ ? 

A. About 6,000 at the present time. 

O. Where is that pipe used ? 

A. I think we have 150 works in now, all over the country, mostly west. 

O. How is that pipe treated as to covering? Is this a specimen of the 
covering (showing a specimen of pipe) ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What is that covering ? Won't you explain it briefly to the Com- 
mittee ? 

A. It is what we call Kalamein. It is an English patent. We started 
our business in 1869. We tried for ten years to find some pipe that would 
not rust, and we got hold of this English patent, and we got the right to 
use it for pipe alone. It is an alloy. The pipe, after it is made - the raw 
pipe — iron pipe, is put into a tub with this alloy, and the pipe is heated to a 
point of heat, and this alloy seems to go into the iron and form a part of the 
iron. Galvanized pipe, you flatten it down like that, and the galvanizing 
material will all fly off. 

O. How has the sample been treated ? 

A. It has been hammered down so as to show that. 

O. For the purpose of what ? 



136 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. To show it would not flake off. 

O. Is that the way it results in the foundry where you hammer it 
down? 

A. Oh, yes. You cannot start it at all. 

O. How long has this been used — in actual use ? 

A. I think in about 1882 we commenced to make it, and we have made 
about 2,000 miles of it at the present time. 

O. So that it has been laid in the ground a great many years ? 

A. Well, about eight or nine years. 

Q. Have you examined any specimens that have laid in the ground ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What is the result of use ? 

A. I find that it is not affected at all. 

O. Have you had any examination made of it by experts? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. With a view to ascertaining how long it would last ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. By whom ? 

A. By Prof. Mowbray, of North Adams. 

O. Have }'Ou his report there ? 

A. Yes, sir. I will read part of it. It is very short. (Reading.) 

North Adams, Massachusetts, September 30th, 1885. 
To the National Tube Company, McKccsport, Allegheny Co., Pa. 

J. C. Converse, PresH : — The American Zylonite Company duly received 
the three-inch Kalameiu pipe, and it is now fixed in two of their artesian 
wells. I notice the weld of this pipe is superior to that of any iron pipe we 
have used hitherto, whilst the smoothness of the bore is remarkable, and 
greatly increases the delivery. 

For our product it is necessary that there shall not be the slightest stain 
of iron, and heretofore we have used stout copper pipe to secure us from 
this evil ; now, the Kalamein alloy relieves us from this very serious 
expense, and we find the water passing through same as free from iron 
as that arriving through the copper tubing. Owing to the smoothness of 
this pipe it presents so much less surface for corrosion than cast-iron, 
that the water conveyed equal distances not only delivers increased volume, 
but there is so much less action on the metal that where cast-iron would 
be inadmissible on account of stain to our delicate converted fibre, which 
acts like a mordant with water containing traces of iron, your pipe 
delivers the very pure water from our artesian wells without a trace of 
iron stain. 

Our material furnished a very severe test for iron corrosion, and the 
result is a practical demonstration of the value of the Kalamein pipe for 
conveying water in paper mills, etc. 

The following experiment, lasting over a year, may interest you, as 
proving its resistance to corrosive acids : 

A piece of i^-inch Kalamein-coated wrought-iron pipe accurately 
weighed was found to balance 25.5245 grammes ; this was immersed in a 
mixture consisting of sulphuric acid sp. gr. 1.825 five parts, and nitric acid 
sp. gr. 1.390 two parts. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 137 



Augvist 25, 1884. Original weight 2. Loss in gm. 

Grammes, 25 5245. 
Sept. 13. Grammes, 25. 4S50 ; loss after 19 days' immersion, . . 0.0395 

18S5. 
Men. 7. Grammes, 25.4740; loss during 175 da}'s' immersion, . . 0.0110 
Aug. 1. " 25.4150 ; loss during 177 " " . . 00590 

Loss during 371 " . . 0.1095 

So that 394 grains lost in one year less than one and two-thirds of a 
grain, or one ton of metal would lose 9.61 lbs. in one year's exposure to 
these corrosive acids ; if rolled into plate, such as you use for pipe, of 1%- 
inch diameter, at this rate it would take 200 years to consume such a 
quantity of metal. 

For perfection of manufacture, smoothness of bore and excellent metal, 
your iron pipe leads other manufacturers. The protection furnished by the 
alloy you term Kalamein has enabled this company to dispense with the 
costly copper tube in conveying water without iron stain ; a very important 
gain. Paper manufacturers will appreciate these advantages. 
Very faithfully, 
(Signed) George M. Mowbray, Operative Chemist. 

I will say we did not ask for this ; he sent it to us of his own free will 
and accord. 

O. If there is anything else you want to say about this pipe as to the 
relative expensiveness over cast-iron pipe, you may do so. 

A. I was going to say that we furnished this pipe to the Ouincy Water 
Company rather cheaper than they could have bought cast-iron pipe for 
at that time, which was about $39 a ton ; but now, cast-iron pipe being about 
$28 or $30, our pipe costs more than cast-iron pipe. 

O. Is there anything you can state about this pipe ? 

A. I would say that the Republic Iron Works of Pittsburg bought 
the right to use it on sheet iron ; that is, for roofs of cars, etc., and they 
make a very large amount of it. 

O. Is that piece of pipe by your side a section of pipe that your com- 
pany manufactures ? 

A. I should say it was. 

Mr. G oid ding : That is a piece which has been in six years? 

Mr. Hall: That was laid either in the fall of 1883 or spring of 1884. 

The Witness: It (the report) goes on to say that Mr. Addicks, Presi- 
dent of the Boston Gas Light Company, who has been trying all kinds of 
pipe since he has been connected with the company, in the last year has 
used, I think, 100,000 feet of it, and we have now an order for 25,000 feet, 
which he gave but yesterday. He says it is the best pipe he can find. 

O. {By Mr. Robinson.) You look at that piece on the floor, which has 
been in six or seven years and taken out to be tested ; look at it and see if 
it is all right, Mr. French ? 

A. I should say it was. 

Cross-Examination : 

O. {By Mr. Bailee.) Mr. French, have these pipes been used here in 
the East very much ? 



138 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Not a great deal. As I said before, the reason they do not use 
them is because they cost more than cast-iron. 

O. And you sa3^ that one advantage is that they do not rust ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Even when submerged in water ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. (Producing a piece of pipe.) Is that a piece of the pipe ? 

A. It looks like it. We have a man here, an expert from the mill, 
who will explain all that to you. 

Q. And you have no reason to believe but what that is a piece of your 
pipe? 

A. It looks like it. 

Mr. Pattee : It has simply been subjected to the test of being set in 
water. 

O. (By the Chairman!) (Referring to a piece of pipe.) That is a piece 
of your pipe covered with that solution ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Testimony oe George N. Riley. 

O. (By Mr: Goulding.) What is your full name ? 

A. George N. Riley. 

O. Where do you live, sir ? 

A. I live in Pennsylvania. 

Q. What is your business ? 

A. My business is that of a mechanical engineer. 

O. Are you connected in any way with whatever company it is that 
Mr. French is connected with ? 

A. I am employed by the National Tube Works Company ; yes, sir. 

O. In what capacity ? 

A. Well, my principal business is to look after water pipe, gas lines, 
oil lines, and so forth, boiler tubes, and then I am often consulted in 
manufacturing pipe, and all such like work, as a consulting engineer, I 
would say. 

O. Are you familiar with this pipe such as is used by the city of 
Ouiucy ? 

A. Oh, yes ; yes, sir. 

O. Is that manufactured under your supervision or do you have the 
oversight over it ? 

A. Well, it is under my supervision as far as anything that goes wrong 
about it, then my attention is called to it. As long as it runs along all right, 
I pay little attention to it. Of course, I have my inspectors there. 

O. What do you say with regard to that pipe for the purpose of dis- 
tributing water ? 

A. Oh, it is first-class pipe for that purpose, there is no question about 
it. It is the best pipe in the market to day, I suppose, for water works or 
oil line, or anything of that sort, gas lines and so forth. 

O. For what reason ? 

A. Well, in the first place, it is stronger pipe, and therefore it will 
stand a higher pressure. It is made from a very superior quality of wrought- 
iron, about 55,000 tensile strength, made of the same material and in the 



THE QUINCY CASE. 139 



same manner that we make a Mississippi river boiler tube. Every engineer 
knows and all steam users are familiar with the fact that Mississippi river 
steam boilers carry the highest pressure of steam in the world. So this pipe 
is made in the same way. Then it is fitted with a patent joint, known as 
the Converse Patent Lock Joint, which is leaded down, and it has stood the 
highest pressure of any joint that has ever been invented. We have had as 
high as 800 pounds hydraulic pressure on without showing a sign of a leak, 
and we have had 1,500 pounds pressure on without showing sign of any 
movement in the lead at all. So that so far as the strength of the pipe is 
concerned, I do not see there can be any question about the pipe at all. 
About the durability, that is another question. It is treated with this alloy 
or Kalamein that Mr. French makes mention of. It is made of a very fine 
quality of tin, properly mixed with lead and other metals, and it is then 
incorporated into the body of the iron. After the pipe is made, the pipe is 
then immersed into this alloy, which is heated up to a very high degree of 
heat and it is allowed to remain there until it assumes the same temperature 
as the alloy ; and consequently the pores of the iron open up, this alloy 
enters the pores and becomes amalgamated with it and consequently becomes 
part of the pipe. The alloy is perfectly pure. Tliere is no water on the top 
of the earth that will dissolve it, consequently the water cannot become 
mixed with it ; there is no salt water or alkali that will affect it. We have 
had it laid in the soils of Colorado and New Mexico, where water works are 
out of the question, where they could not use cast-iron pipe ; but this pipe 
we have had in there for between nine and ten years and we have uncovered 
it regularly and find it in as good state to-day as ever. Then we can pass 
more water throught it on account of its smooth surface on the inside and 
smooth flattened joint. Consequently, engineers all know, as you reduce 
the friction you increase the delivery. Then it will stand water hammer, 
that is a very sudden pressure being brought to bear upon the pipe, that no 
other pipe will stand like that, it being elastic. Water hammer is brought 
on by changes in the amount of air and water being introduced, opening 
and closing the valves suddenly, which very often causes pipe to fracture 
which would not otherwise do so with the ordinary pressure. 

O. Will you look at that pipe which is said to have lain in the earth 
for six or seven years in Quincy, and say whether it shows any signs of cor- 
rosion, any signs of wear ? 

A. This large piece ? 

O. The large piece ? 

A. Yes, sir ; that is a piece of our manufacture. 

Q. What do you say as to the condition of it ? 

A. First-class, as good as it was the day it was laid. No signs of any 
corrosion there. 

Q. There is a piece of smaller pipe that Mr. Pattee handed to Mr. 
French. I wish you would examine that and see what you have to sav about 
that ? 

A. That is a piece of our pipe. 

Q. Is that covered with Kalamein ? 

A. I will say there is no water in the State of Massachusetts that will 
do that to that pipe. That has been into acid or something else. It is on 
the outside, you can see and shows traces of acid there on top. I will leave 



140 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



it to any chemist, and he will say it has been in acid. It is all right here, 
you can see. The Kalatnein is still there. It has just commenced to dis- 
solve it from the iron. You will find the Kalatnein is all right inside there, 
it is not affected at all, but it has commenced on the end, upon the cut, to 
dissolve it ; the acid ran in there. It has been cut off. You see that is not 
a water color. 

O. You say the surface of the pipe is not corroded ? 

A. No, sir. I leave it to your examination. You can see the corrosion 
has taken place on the ends, and that is the rust which has run back on the 
pipe. It is all right. 

O. The corrosion conies from the end ? 

A. On the end of the pipe where it has been cut. It is protected on 
this end. That has been cut off and the corrosion has taken place on the 
end and run back over the pipe. It is all right over the surface of the pipe. 
It takes a very strong acid to dissolve that. Nitric acid will affect it in time. 
We have never had a joint of that pipe that has refused to perform the duty 
which has been assigned to it, never had a joint brought back for corrosion. 
The record is good everywhere. We have got about 11,000,000 feet, or in 
the neighborhood of 2,000 miles of it in the ground to-day, all guaranteed — 
and that is something unusual in the water works business ; no other manu- 
facturer will guarantee pipe, they cannot do it. 

O. I don't know but you have already testified as to whether the de- 
mand for this pipe has increased or diminished ? 

A. Oh, yes, sir ; we do not have to canvass for it now as we did. It 
has a record now and takes a place in the market, and people who have 
used it will not use any other. 

O. What sizes do you make of it ? 

A. We make it in sizes all the way from two inches to 24 inches ; that 
is the largest pipe made in the world, the largest wrought-iron pipe. 

Cross-Examination. 

Q. (By Mr. Pattee.) Do you know whether the Quiucy Water Com- 
pany is using it now or whether they have adopted some other kind of pipe ? 

A. I understand they are using it right along, but Mr. French could 
answer that, because he makes the sales to these people. I understand they 
have adopted it. 

Q. Although they are using other kinds of pipe also ? 

A. No, not to my knowledge. They may have other pipe in there. 

O. Haven't you heard that fact ? 

A. No, sir. Well, I did hear — I was out there the day that this com- 
mittee visited there, and they did say they had a piece of cast-iron pipe 
from the reservoir down to the well. (Is that right Mr. Hall ?) They were 
in a hurry for it at the time, and he said we could not furnish it. 

Q. How about the pipe they have laid recently, within a year ? 

A. At the Ouincy Water Works ? 

O. Yes. 

A. I have not heard of any complaint, if there had been any it would 
have come to me. 

O. Do you know whether they are using other kinds of pipe than this ? 

A. I don't know that they are. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 141 



O. You don't know one way or the other ? 

A. No, sir ; I am not familiar with their business there. I know we 
enjoy most of their orders right along. 

O. I suppose we could get other dealers to come in and recommend 
their pipe and condemn yours ? 

A. Well, that is human nature. People do that, you know, right along. 

Testimony of Frank B. Hall, recalled. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Won't you, in just a moment, tell us what 
the fact is about the use of any other kind of pipe ? 

A. Only in two cases has the company used anything but this Kala- 
mein pipe ; one was in running a pipe from the reservoir to the pumping 
station, a distance of about 6,400 feet. We were anxious to finish the work 
that fall, in 1888, and we found we could get cast-iron pipe very much 
quicker than the National Tube Works could furnish the Kalamein pipe, 
and we also found we could get it at 22 cents a foot less than the Kalamein 
was going to cost. Those two reasons decided us to lay the cast-iron pipe. 
The other case was for a distance of [,000 feet, where we put in cement lined 
pipe in place of Kalamein pipe. Those are the only two exceptions. 

O. What was the reason for putting in the cement lined pipe ? 

A. Well, it was a matter of experiment. 

Q. How large a pipe is that ? 

A. That is 6-inch. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Pattee.) You use Kalamein pipe on Washington Street 
entirely ? 

A. Entirely, the whole length. The whole of the three miles laid last 
year was Kalamein pipe. 

O. Yes, and before last year ? 

A. Everything. 

O. All the pipe on Washington Street then is this Kalamein pipe ? 

A. Kalamein pipe ; yes, sir. 

Testimony of John O. Holden. 

O. (By Mr. Pattee.) Your name is John O. Holden ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. You were one of the original incorporators of this company ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. There is a piece of pipe there ; will you state whether that was in 
your possession and what has been done with it ? 

A. Well, at the time I had curiosity to know what the pipe was, and 
to know as thoroughly about the thing as possible, and, as I do now, and I 
asked some gentleman connected with the company, I don't remember 
whom, I cannot now state who, perhaps Dr. Paxon, to bring me a little 
piece of the pipe. That was the piece. 

O. Was that submerged in water ? 

A. I took a can of some kind, I don't remember, it might have been 
one of these cans they put sealed goods into, filled it with water and set this 
in. It stood there through the winter in my place of business, and I filled 



142 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



it up occasionally as I found the water evaporated, and set it away in the 
shed, and it has been there ever since, and I have not thought of it at all 
until this investigation commenced. And seeing it all rusted so, I felt some 
curiosity to know why it was rusty and where that rust came from. I think 
the explanation of the engineer is satisfactory to me, that it came from the 
end of the pipe. 

O. Is there anything further you desire to say ? 

A. No, nothing more than I was not aware I was to be called here 
to-day. I simply attended here to get all of the facts. Being a member of 
the city council, I wished to be fully posted on the matter, so I have been 
here every day. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) That was a fresh cut off piece of pipe ? 

A. It was a fresh cut off piece of pipe that I think was given to me ; I 
know was given to me by some gentleman. 

O. Do you know what kind of a vessel you put it into ? 

A. I put it into a can, one of these sealed goods cans, perhaps a tomato 
can that I brought from my house. 

O. And you put it in on which end ? 

A. This end that is rusty, that was the end that was put in. 

Q. That came in contact with the metal of the bottom of the can ? 

A. It stood in the can up two-thirds of the distance or half way. 

O. What was the condition of the tin can it was in ? 

A. It was a perfectly clean can. 

O. Was it rusty ? 

A. No, a perfectly clean can. 

O. Do you mean a bright tin can ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Do you know how old it was, how long it had been opened. 

A. No. A can we had used at the house, brought from the house, pro- 
bably opened only a few days before and the contents taken out, because 
we do not keep them about the house a great while. 

O. Did you inspect that can particularly to see whether the tin was on 
the can at the time you put it in ? 

A. The tin was on the can, because the can was not rusty when I took 
this out. 

O. When did you say you put this piece of pipe in that can ? 

A. That I could not say. Do you mean how long ago ? 

O. How long ago ? 

A. Well, it is a piece put in at the time the water company put in 
their pipes, and I put it into the water about that time and kept it there. 

O. A number of years ago? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How many years ago ? 

A. Well, when the pipes were put in. 

O. Away back in 1883 or 1884 ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How long did you keep it in the water ? 

A. I kept it there, perhaps, through one year, or through the summer ; 
perhaps we will say six months. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 143 



O. What became of it then ? 

A. I then took it out. I got tired of filling the can with water, and I 
set it back in the shed, and never thought of it until this matter came up. 

O. You set the can in the back shed ? 

A. No, I took it out of the can. 

O. Where did you put the pipe ? 

A. The pipe has been sitting in the shed back of my store. 

Q. When did you deliver it to these parties ? 

A. Well, there was some conversation one evening at city hall in 
regard to the quality of it. I said, as this investigation was coming up, 
I would like to be thoroughly informed in regard to it. There was a 
great deal said about the pipes. I didn't think of saving it, only I wanted 
a sample of this pipe, and wanted to know why that pipe came so. 

O. You are satisfied now it came from the end of the pipe ? 

A. I am now, sir, because I see the other end ; directly on the end is 
not rusted at all. 

Green Room, State House, 

Boston, April 24, 1891. 

Re-direct Examination of Mayor Fairbanks. 

O. {By the Chairman.) Have you implicit confidence in the report of 
your engineer, Mr. Blake ? 

A. I know nothing about pipes. I know nothing about the building of 
works, the dam. I know nothing about it. I know my own business. I 
do want to get pure water for the city of Ouincy, and as a public servant I 
would like to have the system cost the citizens of Quincy as small a sum as 
possible. 

O. Mr. Mayor, have you implicit confidence in the report of Mr. Blake 
your consulting engineer? 

A. I have stated I would like a more thorough investigation and report 
to me as to the actual cost before I could make my answer as to that report. 

O. You decline to answer that question ? 

A. It is only a partial report in my opinion. 

O. Only a partial report ? 

A. That is my opinion. 

O. Then you think it is not a complete report? 

A. No, sir, because I stated I should need more investigation. 

O. Did you hear the evidence as given by Mr. Blake ? 

A. I have heard nearly all the evidence, sir. 

O. Do you think from his evidence it is a partial report ? 

A. In my conversation with him, I find it is. 

O. From the evidence given before the Committee would you under- 
stand that it w T as a partial report or a complete report ? 

A. I don't think, sir, that on his testimony before the Committee it 
would be a complete report ; I think he says that additional reports must be 
made on certain matters. 

Q. Do you think from the evidence given by Mr. Blake that any other 
engineer in the United States could give a more complete report than he did? 

A. If he had more money at his disposal and more time, I think it 



144 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



would cost a great deal more money to complete the investigation than I 
would personally ask for. 

O. Do you think that any other man could make a more complete re- 
port than he gave to the Committee ? 

A. Not for the time at his disposal, and for the amount of money he 
had to use. The Council was hampered very much. The second year, 
when I was President of the Council, we passed an order that the Commit- 
tee on Sewers and Drains were authorized to employ Mr. Blake to go on 
with the investigations. Owing to certain acts of the government I think it 
was nearly three to four months before the Committee on Sewers and Drains 
could get the gentleman to act. 

Closing Argument by Hon. George D. Robinson. 

There are two other important points to which your committee have 
given careful consideration. 

The first is the stability of the plant of the water company ; the second, 
the quantity and quality of their water supply. As to the first, it is some- 
what difficult to arrive at a correct conclusion. The description of pipes 
laid by the Quincy Water Company has been in use for this purpose for so 
short a time that it is impossible to get any reliable evidence as to the 
length of time it may be expected to wear. The company uncovered their 
pipes in several places, giving members of the committee and their engineer 
an opportunity to examine them, both on the outer and inner side, and 
though in two locations the pipes had lain for several years in salt mud, 
they as yet appear to be in good condition. A portion of the pipes was laid 
in inclement weather, and for a time there was serious trouble from leak- 
age ; but that difficulty seems to have been overcome. * * * * 

Consider the stories that have been started. Bad pipe — gingerbread 
pipe. Well, you have seen it. Now, go home and tell the boys about the 
gingerbread pipe down in Ouincy. You saw some of it which was produced 
here yesterday which has been under the ground for about eight years, and 
you saw it was a perfect specimen, untouched by any corrosion. You have 
had it all confirmed ; no rust on it, not even on the specimen that Mr. 
Holdeu produced here, except that which came from the cut edge — the raw 
edge of the iron — a perfect demonstration of the character of the pipe. 
And even Mr. Blake saj^s that he cannot say anything about it, that he does 
not know anything about it, that is, that he has not thoroughly tried it. 
The fact that other people put in cast-iron pipe, because they know nothing 
about it, does not determine this question. On the pipe question there has 
been a complete failure, gentlemen. 

Atlantic, March 29, 1892. 

Remarks oe Mr. John Shaw. 

As I said, they put in cheap pipes. Those pipes are thin, and it is with- 
out dispute that they will last only a short time. 

Mr. Cavanaugh : I would like to ask the gentleman if he knows the 
market price of those pipes to-day ? 

Mr. Sham : To-day ? 

Mr. Cavanaugh : Yes. 

Mr. Shaw : I do not ; no, sir. And it went along until 1888, when 



THE QUINCY CASE. 145 



the town appointed a committee of nine gentlemen, three selectmen and 
six civilians, one from each part of the town, and that committee had $300 
at their disposal to spend for the employment of scientific investigation of 
the pipes and the quality of the water, and so on. Eight of those gentle- 
men made a majority report, saying, in short, "Gentlemen, don't buy it ; 
have nothing to do with it." But one gentleman, Mr. Chairman, the Wol- 
laston member, made a minority report, you remember, and he said, " Buy 
it at once, now is your time, buy it right away." 

REMARKS OE Mr. Eederhen. 

Now, the pipes that are in the city are wrought-irou pipes, thin, but, 
so far as I know, the strength of them will compare favorably with cast- 
iron pipes. As to whether, with the preparation which is upon them, they 
will last as long as a good cast-iron pipe, I am unable to say ; but, I under- 
stand, though I do not vouch for it, that the life of the pipe is somewhere 
from fifteen to twenty years. The plant has now been in since — that is, it 
was started to be put in in 1883, and now it is 1892, so that you are asked 
to buy a plant which is in the neighborhood of eight or nine years old. * 
* * * Now, we have on this line of pipe in the neighborhood, and I can 
give only in round numbers, in the neighborhood of 100 hydrants. There 
is the reservoir, you know the style of the pipe, and I understand by the 
report of the engineer employed by the city that only about ten per cent, 
of the whole length of their pipes, of some thirty miles, are over twelve 
inches in size ; that a very large proportion of them are four inches in size. 
And when you are considering the question as to whether you desire to 
purchase this plant or not, you must consider this, as to whether there is 
now in the ground that size of pipe, that quality of pipe, which will last the 
city for a sufficient time to make it reasonable for the city to purchase it. 

City Council Chamber, City Hall, 

Ouincy, Wednesday, March 30, 1892. 

Remarks oe Ex-Mayor Porter. 
A great deal has been said about the Ouincy Water Company, its works, 
its pipes, and all that sort of thing. I heard stated on the floor of this 
room last Wednesday night a proposition that these pipes which the 
Ouincy Water Company is using for the distribution of water were flimsy 
concerns, would last but fifteen years ; that they were rotten, good for 
nothing in every respect ; which statement, Mr. Chairman, I characterize 
as absolutely untrue. A section of that pipe may be laid in this hall, a 
section of cast-iron pipe may be laid right by the side of it, its diameter 
shall be the same, and the pipe which the Ouincy Water Company uses 
as its distributing main to-day will withstand a stated water pressure of 
double, mark you, of double the pressure which the cast-iron pipe will 
stand. In other words, every foot of pipe which is in the City of 
Ouincy has been tested to a pressure of 500 pounds to the square inch, 
while the cast-iron pipe which is put in and used in many places is 
only tested to a pressure of 200 or 250 pounds to the square inch. You 
have all heard of hydraulic mining ; 3 t ou all know what it is — the dis- 
charging of vast bodies of water against hills, and washing the material 



146 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



down for the purpose of getting the ore from the hill. The water is dis- 
charged through large pipes, and the mouth-piece of the pipe itself— the 
nozzle, as the phrase is used — is only four inches in diameter, affixed to the 
main which delivers this water against this bank. That water is delivered 
at a pressure averaging from 400 to 600 pounds to the square inch in the 
pipe against this bank. Now, every foot of pipe of that kind that is used 
is precisely the same kind of pipe, made at precisely the same State, in 
precisely the same town, and precisely the same place as this Quincy 
Water Company's pipes are made and shipped from ; in other words, 
fellow citizens, the McKeesport factory of the National Tube Works manu- 
facture these mains. They are long wrought iron, if you please of rolled 
wrought iron, and treated with a preparation which is like the antimony or 
plating you put upon a fork and call it a silver fork or a silver-plated fork, 
Now, if a cast-iron pipe in its natural state represents 100 per cent, of duty • 
that is to say, if it is called a perfect pipe, a wrought-iron pipe not treated 
represents of itself 99 per cent ; so that you see there is a loss of only one 
per cent, in the use of these pipes. But it is plain that these pipes, by 
reason of having this plating or Kalameiuing, so-called, added to them, 
produce a pipe which is stronger, better and more lasting than the cast- 
iron pipe which represents 100 ; it has only got to gain one per cent, in 
order to be equal with it. Those pipes have been in Quincy ten years. The 
only pipe that has ever burst in the City of Quincy, from any cause what- 
ever, has been their 20-inch cast-iron main. Mark that, gentlemen. That 
pipe broke in 1887. It came near where it crosses, where the Old Colony 
Railway passes over the pipe which is the main which supplies the other 
mains up and down Franklin street. Whether that pipe was broken or 
cracked in being put in, or whether the pressure was so great, or whether 
there was some sand flaw in the casting of it, I do not know ; that pipe, 
however, has been taken out and replaced by another cast-iron main of 
equal size, because at that time when that was done the National Tube 
Works were not turning out from their works any pipe greater than sixteen 
inches in diameter. 

The pipe which was mentioned as that which was rotten and good for 
nothing, which would burst and was thrown out at Tynn, Gloucester and 
other towns and cities, is not this kind of pipe at all ; it is what is known 
as cement-lined pipe. In other words, a mould is made, a 6-inch sheet iron 
pipe is laid in this mould, and around it, both inside and outside is put 
cement. Now, then, those pipes have been used in Lynn, and they have 
been used in other places ; they are in use in Dedham to-day. It is by no 
means sure that that pipe is not a good pipe. Mr. Wiuslow Warren, ,1 
gentlemen whom you know and have heard of a great deal, is President 
of the Dedham Water Company, and Mr. Warren told me that in his 
judgment there was no pipe equal to the cement-lined pipe. Mr. Dwinell, 
who is the Chairman of the Water Commissioners of the town of Win- 
chester, is of the opinion that cement-lined pipe is the best pipe to use. 
Now, I cannot agree with him, because it is true that the City of Lynn has 
been troubled with its pipes, with its cement-lined pipes, and there have 
been many breakages in them, and when they replace a cement-lined pipe, 
as they do each year, they replace it with cast-iron pipe. It is also equally 
true that they do have some wrought-iron pipe like that which is in use in 



THE QUINCY CASE. 147 



Ouincy; and if you will allow me, I will read from the report of the 
engineer of the City of Lynn. That city has been the test place for this 
pipe around New England. He says, " In 1883 the City of Lynn laid about 
4,500 feet of wrought-iron pipe " — probably similar to the pipe laid in 
Ouincy; the description was similar. Mr. Peter French informed me in 
conversation (and he lives in Weymouth — a man known undoubtedly to 
many of you) that it is the same practically as that laid in Quincy. " We 
have had no trouble with the pipe, and where it has been exposed it has 
been found to be in good condition. I cannot send sample," he says, 
" because I have not taken any out." He goes on and says, "There has 
been no special appropriation to re-lay pipe, but each )'ear we are taking 
out the cement lined pipes and replacing them with the larger cast-iron 
mains to such an amount as the Water Board may determine. I will send 
you," he says, " a sample of the cement-lined pipe." It is a very common 
pipe, and everybody knows what it is. 

Remarks of ex-Councilman Shaw. 
It would seem proper, Mr. Chairman, that I should say a few words in 
answer to the gentleman by way of an explanation of his statements. The 
gentleman charges me with saying some things I did not say. He says that 
I stated that the pipes had been thrown out at Gloucester. A small matter, 
but I did not say that. I quoted from the Mayor's address, the Mayor of 
Gloucester. In his inaugural some three years ago, which I read from, the 
Mayor of Gloucester says, " Water and sewerage should be introduced to- 
gether. The Mayor does not believe in purchasing the present private plant 
because the pipe used in it is not good for more than ten years." He also 
stated he was informed by a gentleman, an official in this city, a short time 
ago, about three weeks ago, that that gentleman had changed over. I wrote 
to the Mayor of Gloucester, and here is a letter in which he reiterates the 
same opinion that he had then in regard to the quality of wrought-iron 
pipes. Fearing that I might do an injustice to somebody in my remarks of 
last Wednesday night, when I stated that at Lynn they were having great 
trouble with pipes, as I got that information through hearsay, I, yesterday 
morning, at a sacrifice as a business man, went to Lynn. They said, " Oh, 
yes, we have your letter seeking a sample of pipe." But I said, " I guess 
that is for the other fellow, not for me." They said that they had about 
3,000 feet — Mr. Porter says 4,500 feet, and I allow that is right perhaps ; the 
gentleman told me 3,000 feet, but it is immaterial — they had 3,000 feet of 
pipe such as the Quiiicy Water Company claims to have in part in their 
system here. I understand the city of Ouincy to have three kinds of pipe : 
cast-iron, plain wrought-iron and this wrought-iron, which is Kalameined. 
Kalamein on iron, as I understand it by the testimony before the Committee 
on Water Suppl}' last winter at the State House, consists of an alloy. Kala- 
mein alloy is made of lead and zinc, and that is applied to the pipe mechan- 
ically through heat, with a little flux. I here learned by inquiring around, 
gentlemen, not only to-day but in years gone by, I have learned from good 
authority that iron pipes going into the ground with an alloy, whether it be 
straight zinc or copper, or an alloy of zinc and lead, were not fit to go into 
the ground, because wherever the moisture attacked it the film or silver 
plating, as the National Tube Company are pleased to call it by way of trade 



148 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



mark, and also they call it Kalamein, the moisture gets underneath the flake 
and throws it off. It is positively a mechanical defect, and for that very 
reason it is not used scarcely any. I think there is not another concern in 
the country that makes that kind of pipe, for the reason that the people, the 
manufacturers of it, understand that it is a mechanical, it is not a perfectly 
mechanical matter to put it in pipes. They put pipes in the ground cov- 
ered with adamantha or varnish, asphalt varnish. But as a fact, or as a 
matter of economy, people use cast-iron pipe in place of these wrought-iron 
pipes because cast-iron pipes will wear so much longer than the wrought- 
iron pipes. 

Now, to go back to Lynn for a moment, they told me they had over 
ioo miles of pipe in the street and only some 3,000 feet of this pipe put in, 
sold them by the National Tube Company as a sample lot. In 187 1 and 
1872 the Water Commissioners of the city of Lynn put in their water works. 
They got permission from Mr. Norman, late of Newport, R. I., who was 
quite a large water works contractor, and they fitted up a line which is of 
wrought-iron with cement, they also covered that wrought-iron pipe outside 
with cement, three-quarters of an inch to an inch thick. A gentleman told 
me when I described it to him, " We have had this kind of pipe here," and 
he said it was not worth putting into the ground. Then the engineer stated 
this : That in 1871 and '72 they were told that the pipes they were putting 
in, the wrought-iron pipes, would have a life of about twelve or fifteen 
years ; and they have found that to be practically true. As they have been 
taking out pipes throughout the city of Lynn during the last three or four 
years, it has been perfectly honeycombed, and if it were not for the outside 
covering of cement, they would have had serious trouble. In regard to the 
special appropriation for pipe, they never had any special appropriation of 
money, that is, never had any special loan ; they never asked a loan 
specially for putting in pipe to replace the burst pipe or the corroded 
or honeycombed pipe. And another plea : Before the committee, the 
Water Committee, at the State House, they appeared, the Mayor of Lynn 
and the City Engineer of Lynn, appeared there with samples of wrought- 
iron pipe, such pipe as is used by the Ouincy Water Company, except the 
Ouincy Water Company pipe is Kalarneined, that is, it has got this little thin 
coating of zinc and lead, and the Mayor and the City Engineer of Lynn 
showed this honeycombed condition of their water pipes in Lynn ; and, 
basing their plea upon the ground that they were in great danger of these 
pipes bursting and they must be taken out, that was one of the pleas for 
asking that they might have authority to issue bonds. I think they had 
authority to issue some $300,000 in 1888, and I believe voted $150,000 last 
year for the purpose of the extension of their water mains, and doing this, 
that and the other. 

While we are talking about this Kalarneined pipe, I might say that while 
it is claimed by the people who manufacture the pipe, and who have been a 
long time at the head of the National Tube Company, who started business 
in 1867 — I am quite sure they were a small concern in East Boston, and 
thej' started in 1867, and there is nobody outside of the National Tube Com- 
pany of Pittsburg, Penn., I think, that makes this pipe ; I do not think they 
make it at all, because it is not a practical, not a commercial article 
mechanically, chemically it is a very harmful matter, such pipe as your 



THE QUINCY CASE. 149 



physician would tell you — your physician will tell you that if a lead and 
zinc alloy that is coated on the interior of a pipe gets into the water it is 
carried along in a flocculent, scaly condition in the water into your house, 
into your pitcher, into your tumbler and into your stomach. Now, what is 
it doing in your stomach ? The acid of the stomach, as your physician will 
tell you, is working upon it, getting it into solution and throwing it into 
your system, a solution of lead and a solution of zinc. So that from a 
chemical point of view it is not a fit thing to use in water works, whether it 
is in Ouiucy or Amsterdam. 

Ex-Mayor Porter said, in describing cast-iron pipe and wrought-iron 
pipe, place a line of wrought-iron pipe — he takes a line of wrought-iron 
pipe, and on the other side a line of cast-iron pipe, and he gives you the 
tensile strength of that pipe ; he did not show you or say a word in regard 
to the rusting capacity resistance. Now, let me tell you of the fatal error 
of laying these wrought-iron pipes in cities and towns. If you put in 
wrought-iron pipes, the moisture will attack them. The pipes are very 
thin, and all these wrought pipes are not more than one-eighth of an inch 
thick. Gentlemen, you can imagine, gentlemen who wield the mason's 
chisel have to handle good old Ouincy stone, will know how soon iron will 
rust when it is laid off from use or exposed to moisture. In the case of cast- 
iron, instead of rusting away there is quite an accumulation, an actual coat- 
ing taking place ; the coating is getting thicker both outside and inside, 
and if the pipe is not weakened by jars and cracks it will last a very long 
time. And that is why our esteemed neighbor and friend here, Mr. 
French, who is the city representative of the National Tube Company, 
who gave you this book to read, that is the reason why he, though he 
is a resident of Weymouth, could not sell his townsmen such pipe as 
the Quincy Water Company bought. No, they preferred to buy cast-iron 
pipe, and used cast-iron pipe in their water works in Weymouth. They 
also use cast-iron pipes in Braintree, and they use cast-iron pipes every- 
where in this part of the country. Of course, if you are going up in the 
mountains to bring water down from the summit, then you want long, 
light-weight pipes ; there they are used, and you can afford to use them. * 
* * * While I was in Lynn a gentlemen, to show me practically in re- 
gard to the rust on wrought-iron, gave me this piece of pipe (producing a 
section of pipe), which shows how moisture will attack wrought-iron. It 
has thinned it from one-eighth of an inch down to the thickness of a wafer, 
showing the action of moisture upon that pipe. I would be pleased to pass 
this along to the gentlemen in the audience. 

Remarks of George F. Pinkham. 
I tell you, gentlemen, the sooner we buy the water works the better, 
whether the water pipe that we have there is such a poor thing as they tell 
us or not. You will remember that soon after — many of the pipes were put 
in in the winter, you will remember, and it was said then, " Why, it won't 
last five years." Nine years have gone by, and whenever you excavate, 
whenever you dig up a piece of pipe, they tell you it looks exactly as well 
as it did when it was put down. We have been told that fifteen years was 
the extent of the life of some pipe. We have had cement pipe. Before 
coming to Ouiucy I lived in Cambridge. Cambridge supplies itself with 
water through cement-lined pipe. The most of them have been taken out. 



150 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The Lynn pipe and the other pipe that was told about, I know nothing 
about. The gentleman last up undertook to tell us about the Lynn pipe. 
Did he do it ? He gave me no information whatever, except that they had 
3,000 feet of pipe only of a kind similar, as was supposed, to what is laid in 
the city of Ouincy. Whether that pipe was good, bad or indifferent, if my 
ears are good, the gentleman failed to tell us. He did say they did have 
3,000 feet of that kind of pipe. Now, I don't know anything about it. As 
has been said, as was said at the time when the pipe was put in, there had 
not been much of the pipe put in in this part of the country. I said to Mr. 
Howland, the engineer, I think it was five or six years ago, " Howland, tell 
me please, why you put in the pipe in Ouincy which you did put in ? Give 
me a reason?" " Well," said he, " I had nothing to do with the Ouincy 
water works." " I know that, but you are an engineer, just give me, a citi- 
zen of Quincy, a reason." The answer I got was very simple indeed. " We 
put it in because we thought it was the best we could put in. We paid a 
higher price for it than we should have paid for the best cast-iron pipe, and 
we put it in." That is the reason they put it in — simply and solely because 
they considered it the best kind of pipe. Now, then, when doctors disagree, 
who shall decide ? I believe we have got a good system of water works. 

Remarks of F. A. Ceafein. 

This reminds me of an old-fashioned town meeting when we used to 
thresh every question that came before us and get out of it all the wisdom 
that it contained. 

The points made against the purchase of the water works appear to have 
dwindled down to about one. In the estimation of Mr. Shaw, the pipes are 
poor, they are of a poor quality. I have heard that ever since the water 
company began operations. I have always heard that the practical mechan- 
ical work was going to show up very badly indeed. That has been the old 
croaking thing that has been said every year, year after year, and has been 
proved to be false by demonstration and experience. When I used to 
hear the wise prophets of that day tell us about the tissue paper pipes 
that were being put in, the mean, flimsy, make-believe mock work that 
was being put in, I expected to see cradle holes and ditches and the usual 
evidences outflowing all over Ouincy ; that we were going to see these 
terrible burstings of the pipes, and we were going to be flooded from the 
flimsy, make-believe works that the water company put in. That was the 
old croaking story told them, that is the old croaking story that has been 
told ever since, that is the old croaking idea that has got into the brains of 
some of our fellow citizens, most estimable gentlemen, and that is the objec- 
tion that is urged here to-night, that the pipes are very poor indeed ; and 
that if we should go to the Supreme Court to have a commission appointed 
to determine how much we should pay for these works, they would not see 
any imperfection in the machinery or the mechanical part, they would advise 
us to buy at a ridiculous figure, and we would get a thing that would be very 
worthless and victimized on a large scale. That is the story that is told here 
by the most eminent representative of the opposition. 

Remarks of George A. Litchfield. 
I think all this talk about what Lynn has done or is doing, or what a 
dozen other places in the Commonwealth are doing or have done, has nothing 



THE QUINCY CASE. 151 



whatever to do with the merits of this case. I think the question whether 
the pipes that this water company have put into our streets are good for any- 
thing or not has nothing whatever to do with the merits of this case. I am 
certain that a board of reference selected by the Supreme Court of Massa- 
chusetts will go into the question whether the pipes are good for anything. 
Why, gentlemen, you are basing your arguments against this proposition 
on the supposition that three asses are to be appointed to adjudicate upon 
this case and not three gentlemen of good, fair, sound common sense. 
(Applause.) Now, that is an old story, what does all that amount to, 
whether the pipes are good, bad or indifferent, whether they are put in well, 
badly or indifferently ? The question is, what will three men, disinterested, 
appointed by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, say these water works are 
worth and that the city of Quiucy ought to pay for them ? They are just as 
likely to adjudge a price that will seem unfair to the water company as to 
adjudge a price that will seem unfair to the city of Quincy. It certainly 
seems to me so. 



Quincy Water Co. j B]3FORE HoN j OHN t^oweel, HoN- ^ H Bennett 
City of Quincy. j and Charles Clifford, Eso. 

Geo. D. Robinson, Esq., ] 

Frank P. Goulding, Esq., \ for the Company. 

J. H. Flint, Esq., J 

Hon. R. M. Morse, \ 

J. E. Cotter, Esq., [for the City. 

J. W. McAnarney, Esq., j 

First Hearing, \ 

Monday, February 20th, 1S93. j 
The Commissioners met in the Equity Court Room, in the old Court 
House, Boston, at 11 o'clock A. M. 

Mr. Goulding proceeded to open the case on behalf of the Quincy 
Water Company, speaking as follows : 

* * * They put these works in on a scale that was calculated to 
meet the growth of the city. There was nothing niggardly, or cheap, or 
shoddy about any part of the construction. It was all well done ; done so 
as not to require to be done over again ; done thoroughly as far as they 
went. Whether they made any mistakes or not I am not able to say. If 
they were human they probably made some errors. But the design and 
purpose and scale— the plan on which the works were constructed — was to 
furnish a permanent and suitable and complete and ample water supply for 
Quincy as far as they went. * * * A word with regard to the dis- 
tributing system. The City of Quincy, of course, is in some respects like a 
country town. That is to say, it is spread out over a wide area, and there 
are intervals between the differeut villages that are not thickly inhabited, 
and the distributing system has to be widely extended in proportion to the 
service that is rendered. That is becoming, of course, less and less so as 
the City of Quincy grows. There is Quincy proper, South Quincy, West 
Quincy, Wollaston and Hough's Neck. We think the water has not yet 
been extended to Hough's Neck. We had on the 30th of April, at the time 
of this taking, about 35 miles of pipe laid. I have a book here that shows 



152 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the exact amount and the exact sizes of the pipe, but, of course, it is not 
necessary in the opening statement to any more than refer to it. The 
total amount of 

20 r/ Pipe was , 2,679 feet. 

16" " " 5,582 " 

12" " " 16,122 " 

10" " " 6,879 " 

8" " " 18,040 " 

7" " " 994 " 

6" " " 42,038 " 

5" " " 943 " 

4" " " 64,689 " 

2" " " 26,846 " 

With regard to this distributing system, all I need to say in the opening 
is that it will be shown, I think, that it is a good distributing system for 
the town. Your Honors perhaps observed that there is a large amount of 
4-inch pipe, but our evidence will show that there is a good fire service in 
all parts of the town, and that with a small expenditure in completing the 
circuits and in a like kind of treatment, where there is a dead end, com- 
pleting the circuit so as to increase the supply without re-laying the pipe, 
an excellent fire service in all quarters, and a service of all other kinds, can 
be furnished, and is furnished, as a matter of fact, except, perhaps, there 
may be instances where it requires this completion of circuits in order to 
make it perfectly what it should be. I stated before that the company had 
a contract with the town at $35 a hydrant for ten years from 1883, I think, 
with the right in the town to extend it fifteen years longer. 

The quality of the pipe which has been laid in the streets is a subject 
on which we shall introduce evidence. The pipe is not a cast-iron pipe ; it 
is a pipe furnished by the National Tube Works Co. , and is a wrought-iron 
pipe. This pipe is thinner than the cast-iron pipe. It has, several believe, 
great advantages over the cast-iron pipe. It is manufactured and treated 
with some kind of a material that is wrought into it — asphalt coating, or 
some other material, which will be described by the parties who make it 
and the parties who have examined it. I think there are two different 
kinds of coating, and I am not at this moment informed as to what is the 
prevailing kind that is used on the pipe at Quincy, but it is a substance 
that gives it a smoothness and prevents its destruction by rust, and prevents 
any deleterious matter getting into the water. This pipe has been laid 
now for ten years in some parts of the town. We shall show you specimens 
of it, and show you how well it is preserved in the ground, and we believe 
that no successful attack can be made upon its durability and its service- 
ability in all respects. 

Boston, February 22d, 1S92. 

John A. Gordon, Sworn. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding.) Did you have anything to do about this mat- 
ter of the kind of pipe that should be used ? 

A. At the time that the works were being considered the various kinds 
of pipe in the market were discussed, both the cast-iron, the iron Kalainein 



THE QUINCY CASE. 153 



that we put in, and the other different kinds of pipe that are used for water 
pipes, that is the cement-lined pipe, and so on. There were a good many 
reasons for selecting Kalamein pipe, which is a wrought-iron pipe protected 
on the inside and the out by an insoluble coating, which will be shown to 
you, and that by a coating of asphalt. To my mind it seemed to have many 
advantages over the cast-iron pipe, and also over the cement-lined pipe ; 
over the cement-lined pipe particularly because we knew it would be more 
lasting ; over the cast-iron pipe on account of the closeness of the joints, 
and for other reasons. The difference will be shown you between a joint of 
the Kalamein pipe and the cast-iron pipe. There are some things that have 
intrinsic merit which presents itself to one's mind without having tested it by 
time, and to my mind this was one of those things. The pipe seemed in 
itself so well adapted for water purposes that I had no hesitation at all in 
assenting to its use, and I have not beeu able to change my mind since. 

O. When the works were completed by Mr. McClallau under his con- 
tract, the pipe line was how long ? 

A. 21 y 2 miles long, or about 21^-21 and a fraction of a mile. 

O. In round numbers, how much have you put in after that ? 

A. Put in 14 miles since that time. 

O. The hydrants at the time they took it were in number — 

A. ior, I think ; about that number; 101, I think ; that is what I have 
in my memory. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. (By Mr. Morse.) Who prescribed the size of the pipes for the differ- 
ent streets as they were put into the contract ? 

A. The engineer who built the works. 

O. Who was that ? 

A. Mr. Howland. 

O. And who employed Mr. Howland ? 

A. The contractor, Mr. McClallan. 

O. Mr. McClallan? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Then you had no independent engineer at that time who advised 
you on the subject ? 

A. Well, I will not say about that. At that time I was not so familiar 
with this part of the work as I became since, and my memory does not hold 
good with regard to those points. 

O. Who first suggested the idea of wrought-iron pipes ? 

A. That I cannot say. I think that the different kinds of pipes were 
presented to us at our meetings, for consideration, and I cannot say who 
suggested the wrought-iron. 

O. Well, who advised your taking them ? 

A. Well, that I cannot say. I can say this— that we unanimously con- 
sented to adopt the wrought-iron after considerable investigation and talk 
on the matter. 

O. Please state, Dr. Gordon, what personal investigation you made in 
regard to the pipes ? 

A. Well, I did not make any investigation outside of Ouincy- I made 
some inquiries with regard to the wrought-iron pipe, and with regard to 



154 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



their manufacture directly through one of the men who was interested, who 
had charge of the testing department of the pipe where they were manufac- 
tured. He was interested in the testing department, and when these pipes 
were being considered, I inquired of him in regard to the quality and man- 
ufacture of the pipe and that is all the inquiry I made about pipe. 

O. Well, if I understand you correctly, the only investigation that you 
personally made was to inquire of a person who tested the pipes at the place 
they were made ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Did you know at that time that those pipes were a new thing? 

A. I knew that they were comparatively new. 

O. Did you know that they were not the kind of pipes usually laid for 
water pipes ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Were you referred to any place in New England in which that kind 
of pipe had been laid ? 

A. I have forgotten. I do not remember. 

O. At all events, you did not in fact visit any place in which that kind 
of pipe was laid to investigate it ? 

A. No, I did not. 

O. Where were they made ? 

A. They were made at McKeesport, Pa. 

O. You did not go there, of course ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not. 

O. Where was it you talked with this tester ? 

A. In Ouincy. 

O. In Ouincy ? He came there then ? 

A. Not in Ouincy, but I talked with him in Prince Edward's Island ; 
he was down there, and I was there at the same time. 

O. You did not go down there on purpose ? That was accidental, I 
suppose ? 

A. That was accidental. 

O. When was it that you were down there ? 

A. I have forgotten ; I was there in that summer. 

O. Before or after this contract was made ? 

A. It was about the time that we were talking this matter over ; I have 
forgotten the exact date. 

O. How long were you down there ? 

A. About ten days, I think. 

O. Do you remember whether it was before or after the contract was 
made? 

A. I do not remember particularly, but it was at that time when the 
contract was up in my mind. 

Q. Then it comes down to this — that your personal inquiry was the 
result of an accidental meeting with the man down in Prince Edward's 
Island ? 

A. Yes. 

O. Had you ever known him before ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What was his name ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 155 



A. James Campbell. 

O. Had you ever known him before ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Where is this place, what part of Pennsylvania, where they are 
made ? 

A. Well, I cannot say. I have never been at the works myself. 

O. Have you ever seen those pipes since laid in any other place than 
Ouincy ? 

A. No. I have seen the pipes in different places to be laid, or expect- 
ing to be laid. 

O. No, I do not ask you where they were expecting to be laid, but 
have you ever made an examination of pipes in the ground in any other 
place than Ouincy ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Was the question submitted to Mr. Ball of using these pipes ? 

A. I am not aware of that. I cannot answer that. 

O. Then in regard to the different sizes which should be used in the 
different streets, was that question submitted to Mr. Ball, do you know ? 

A. I cannot say. 

O. Did you know at that time, Dr. Gordon, that Mr. McClellan had 
the controlling interest in those pipes in New England ? 

A. I did not quite catch your remark. 

Q. Did you know at the time that this contract was made that Mr. 
McClallan had the controlling interest in those pipes in New England ? 

A. I did not. 

Q. Did you know that he had a large interest in them ? 

A. I did not. 

O. Or that he had any interest ? 

A. I did not. 

Q. Did you know that he was the New England agent at that time for 
the sale of those pipes ? 

A. No, I did not. 

O. Do you remember, Dr. Gordon, where the pipe laying began ? 

A. Not exactly. I think, as near as I can remember, in October, 1883. 

Q. Yes, but where it began— in what streets ? 

A. As near as I can remember, the first pipe was laid on Penn Street, 
from the pumping station down to Water Street, and then continued up to 
the stand pipe. I may be mistaken, but that is my nearest recollection. 

Q. Can you indicate it on the map ? 

A. I am under the impression that the first pipe was laid from the 
pumping station which is here, down in this directiou to Water Street, and 
then carried across here to Franklin Street, and then carried up along here to 
the water tower, which is up in this direction. I may be mistaken about 
that being the very first, but I am under the impression that that was the 
first pipe that was laid. It is difficult to remember such a long time just 
the 

Q. Of course, I only want to get your best recollection. Do you know 
whether there was a record kept by the company showing the order in 
which the pipes were laid and the dates at which the different pipes were 
laid? 



156 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. I am not certain about that. 

O. Can you tell me where the first of the small pipes were laid ? 

The Chairman : 4-inch ? 

Mr. Morse : 4-inch pipe. 

A. I think the first 4-inch pipe was laid on Chestnut Street. 

O. Where is Chestnut Street ? 

A. Chestnut Street is a short street in the centre of the town, which 
runs across from two other streets — I think I can show it to you down here. 
Yes, this is Chestnut Street down here. 

O. Do you remember at what season that was laid ? 

A. No. 

O. Whether it was before or after the winter of 1883-4, or during the 
winter ? 

A. I think it was before the frost set in. I will not be able to give an 
exact answer to that. 

O. Is there any one connected with the company who would be likely 
to be better informed than yourself on that point ? 

A. I think Dr. Faxon would be able to give all those points ; I think 
he would. He followed it much more closely at that time than I did. 

O. What is the smallest pipe that you laid ? 

A. The smallest pipe that was laid for a permanent pipe was 4-inch 
pipe — some laid on short streets like that ; but there were some smaller pipes, 
some 2-inch, that were laid where we found it very necessary to supply house- 
hold service immediately and before we could get large pipe, and for other 
reasons — expense. 

Q. There was a considerable amount of 2-inch pipe laid, was there not ? 

A. Well, not a very large amount in comparison with the whole 
amount of pipe put down. 

O. Did this round sum, $237, 000, include the charge of rock ex- 
cavation ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Do you know whether there was much blasting? 

A. There was considerable. 

O. Do you remember whether the pipes, as originally laid, were of the 
same character, in regard to their coating, as the pipes that were laid last by 
the company ? 

A. I know of no change, no alterations in the character of the coating. 

O. What is the precise technical name, as you understand it, of the 
pipes which w T ere laid ? 

A. They call them the Kalamein pipe. 

O. And that is so called from the lining ? 

A. I don't know from what the name originated. I think it is made 
up from different words ; the company adopted a name to distinguish it from 
other pipes. 

O. Is it a patent pipe ? 

A. I judge so ? 

Q. Mr. Goulding suggests that one of the words in the combination is 
the Greek word kalos, beautiful. Is that the fact ? 

A. I would accept that. 

O. It is a patent covered pipe, isn't it ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 157 



A. I atti not aware about the patent ; I supposed it was so. 

O. Was there any difference in the thickness of the pipes between 
those laid in the beginning and those laid in the end of your work ? 

A. Not that I am aware of ; I think not. 

O. You think, then, that they were of the same description exactly in 
the beginning as they were in the end ? 

A. I always thought so. I have no reason to change my mind or to 
think differently. 

O. Was there anybody employed by the company to examine the pipes 
as they were delivered and before they were laid ? 

A. I think not. 

O. Will you indicate West Ouincy on that map, Dr. Gordon ? 

A. This is the section called West Quincy. 

O. When were the pipes laid there ? 

A. I think in the autumn, in the early part of the construction. I 
cannot say positively. 

O. Aren't you mistaken about that ? 

A. I may be entirely mistaken about it ; I have forgotten. I think I 
am mistaken now that I come to think about it. I think it was in the latter 
part of the construction. Yes, I think it was, now that I think of it. 

O. And do you mean by that, after you had finished the original 21^ 
miles ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. It was included in the 21 y 2 miles, was it ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. That is the place which you referred to as having the worst sanitary 
condition, is it not ? 

A. Yes, that was a part of the place ; the worst sanitary condition ex- 
tended through that valley generally to West Ouincy and South Ouincy. 

RE Cross Examination. 

O. When and where were pipes of the company taken up ? 

A, Well, that I will not be able to answer. I certainly would refer that 
to the engineer or superintendent. 

O. Do you know whether any record has been kept of what pipes 
were taken up and when ? 

A. I think there is a record ; I am quite certain that the superintend- 
ent will be able to tell exactly where and when. 

O. Do y ou remember when you were personally present at any taking 
up of pipes ? 

A. No, I do not. I only remember that in my driving about in 
Ouincy from one place to another, when I saw a pipe being taken up or pipe 
being exposed, I used to stop and look at it. 

A. Was any pipe ever taken up in your presence for the purpose of ex- 
amining it and testing it to see how it had stood or laid ? 

A. No, sir, not in my presence. 

O. Then these examinations which you made were casual ones, as you 
happened to see them ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And the pipes which were taken up at those times were not taken 



158 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



up for the purpose of being tested, but they were exposed in some new work 
that was to be done ? 

A. Yes. Yes, I think that would cover the ground. 

O. Can you now recall any particular pipe or place where you saw it ? 

A. Well, I cannot point out the exact location. I remember seeing a 
pipe on Water street exposed, and I remember seeing a pipe on Cross street 
exposed. I remember seeing pipes on Canal street, and down through the 
marsh land there, and I remember seeing pipes in Atlantic several times, ex- 
posed. The times in which I have seen them are innumerable. I have seen 
them a great many times. And I saw a great many pieces of pipe that had 
been taken up and carried to the office and exhibited so that we could see 
them. 

O. Take any one of the pipes that you have referred to which you saw 
exposed ; can you identify that particular pipe so as to state when it was 
laid, if you know, or what the size of that pipe was? 

A. No, I cannot say, but I can say this, that if the superintendent will 
say that such a piece of pipe was taken up from a certain street, I can tell 
pretty near what time that pipe bad been laid, and he can tell when he took 
it up, of course, I can tell the difference. But I cannot identify the partic- 
ular piece myself, as I may not have seen it when it was put down. 

O. How can you tell how long that pipe had been down ? 

A. I can tell when certain pipes were laid in certain streets and that 
they had not been taken up and removed or replaced from that time. I think 
it is quite obvious that I would be correct. 

O. But you kept no memorandum or record of when the pipes were 
laid in the different streets? 

A. We know that the twenty-one and one-half miles of pipe were laid 
between September, 1883, and June, 1884, and when a pipe was taken up 
from any such street subsequently, we could easily estimate how long it had 
been underground, withiu a few months. 

O. Are there specimens at your office of pipes which have been 
taken up ? 

A. There are specimens that the company have charge of. 

O. Well, are they something which the company hold now, or were 
they turned over to the city at the time the property was turned over? 

A. I am not quite certain about that. I think the company have some 
pieces. 

O. Some that they kept ? 

A. Yes, I think so. I am not certain whether the company have 
really kept them. They can be had, at all events. I am not so certain 
about that. 

O. Well, have you seen anything since the city took possession ; have 
you seen any specimens of the pipes that have been taken up ? 

A. Yes, I did. I saw one piece, I think, that was taken up since the 
city took possession. 

O. When and where was that taken up ? 

A. I cannot say now exactly just where it was taken up. It was taken 
up in the autumn. 

O. This last autumn ? 

A. Yes, this last autumn — November, or sometime. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 159 



O. Do you remember who took it up ? 

A. Well, as near as I can remember, it was taken up by Mr. Gleason, 
who has charge, I think, of the pipes for the city. I cannot say posi- 
tively. That was my impression at the time, that it was taken up by Mr. 
Gleason. 

O. Do you remember any other instance ? 

A. No, I do not just now. 

Q. What became of this piece of pipe that you refer to ? 

A. I don't know. 

O. Where did you see it ? 

A. I saw it in the present office of the Ouincy Water Company. 

O. Who else were there at the time ? 

A. Mr. Hall, the superintendent. 

O. Anybody else ? 

A. Well, I don't remember anyone else just at the time I looked at it. 
There were others in and out. 

O. How long a piece of pipe ? 

A. Two or three feet. 

O. What size ? 

A. I think that would be eight-inch, as near as I can remember — seven 
or eight or nine inches. 

O. What was its appearance ? 

A. Its appearance was good. 

O. Do you know why it was taken up ? 

A. I don't know just now, I was told at the time, but it has 
escaped me. 

O. And you don't know what has become of the pipe ? 

A. No, I don't. 

Q. Do you know of any other piece of pipe except that which has 
been taken up and been preserved ? 

A. I do not at present. 

Q. This piece of pipe, you understand, was being examined and pre- 
served with reference to this hearing ? 

A. It was recommended to keep that for this hearing. 

Q. And who recommended that ? 

A. I think I recommended it myself. I may not have been the 
originator of the recommendation, but we all agreed it would be a good 
piece of pipe to show the character of the pipe at the present time. 
O. You thought that would be a good specimen ? 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You haven't any pieces of the two -inch pipe that have been taken 
up ? 

A. I am not aware of any pieces of two-inch pipe having been taken up 
since the works were turned over to the city, but there may be, and I may 
have seen them. I do not recall any pieces. 

Mr. Morse : That is all, Doctor. 

Q- {By Judge Bennett.) Dr. Gordon, can you give the Commissioners 
any light upon the alleged or supposed advantages of the wrought-iron pipe 
over the cast-iron pipe which led you to adopt that instead of the other ? 

A. Well, one thing that influenced me very largely at that time was 



160 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



this, and if you will allow me I will describe in detail what influenced me. 
At the time that this subject came up for consideration, they were holding 
in Loudon an international sanitary convention, and I happened to see some 
reports that were made by London engineers rather objecting to the use of 
the cast-iron pipe on account of the packing, which they thought might be a 
means of giving the germs that were usually found in water an opportunity 
for developing and ultimately being thrown into the water supply. 

O. Where the joints are made ? 

A. Where the joints are made ; the joints are put together and it 
is packed with oakum, and then the lead is run in and tamped home, 
and some of the sanitarians in that convention rather thought that 
these joints with oakum packing at frequent intervals might give 
an opportunity for these germs to develop and be thrown into the 
water supply. Finding that this pipe that we had had a close 
joint without any such packing influenced me very considerably in 
agreeing to that form of pipe. That is the principal point that I had in 
mind. And then it was smooth ; the inside of the pipe is perfectly smooth ; 
where the. joints come together there is no rough place, and that presented 
to my mind a good idea, as there would be very little obstruction to the 
flow of water. And then the nature of the coating, which was described to 
us more or less in detail, indicated to my mind that it would be a pipe that 
would not be apt to rust as readily as the other pipes. Then they were easier 
to handle, being very much lighter than the cast-iron pipes. These are the 
four principal things that influenced me in agreeing to the adoption of these 
pipes. 

Q. What was, approximately, the relative cost of the wrought and the 
cast-iron at this time ? 

A. I think that the first cost of those pipes at that time was even greater 
than the cast-iron pipe, but I think that was not an element that would 
influence us one way or another. They are higher now, very much higher. 

O. Can you give us approximately the difference between the two at 
that time ? 

A. No, I cannot. 

O. Do you know whether those pipes are used elsewhere than in 
Ouincy — the wrought- irou ? 

A. The pipes are used almost universally in the West, very largely at 
all events, and I might say almost universally in the West. There are places 
in the East where they are used ; I cannot mention the places at present, 
but in a little time, by to-morrow or next day, I can find out the places in 
which these pipes are used by looking over the records of the different 
water companies. 

O. How do they compare in weight, doctor ? I do not mean to an 
exact pound, but relatively ; the weight of the wrought-iron and the weight 
of the cast-iron ? 

A. I think the pipe would be less than half the weight of cast-iron 
pipe. 

O. I do not quite understand you, doctor? 

A. I beg your pardon. 

O. I asked you how the weight of the wrought-iron compared with the 
weight of the cast-iron of the same length? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 161 



A. The weight of the wrought-iron would be less than half the weight 
of the cast-iron pipes. 

O. I thought you said price ? 

A. No. The price, I think, is a little higher. 

Wixuam Iv. Faxon, Sworn. 

O. (By Mr. Goitlding.) The works were completed, and you began 
to distribute the water. Now, what do you know about the pipe — the kind 
of pipe that you adopted ; what did you do about it ? 

A. Well, it was a question what kind of pipe. Mr. Howland, the 
engineer, said he was thoroughly familiar with this pipe, and he considered 
it the best pipe in the market. At that time they were laying or relaying a 
good deal of pipe in Boston — cast-iron pipe — and I took occasion to see 
what it was, and a good deal of it was filled up with tubercules, and in a 
very bad shape, and I thought there must be something better than that. 

O. Have you a statement of the maintenance account? I will ask 
you if that is a statement of the maintenance account from year to year? 

A. Yes, sir ; that is a statement as drawn from the books. 

O. What is it. Read it. 

A. Maintenance for the first six months from March, 1884, to Septem- 
ber, 1884, $1,786.60; from September, 1884, to September, 1885, $5,068. iS. 

O. What is that in addition? 

A. Yes, each year ; this is made up in years. From September, 18S5, 
to September, 1886, $5,089.92, being an increase of $21.84 ; from September, 
1886, to September, 1887, $5,268.41 ; from September, 1S87, to September, 
1888, $5,902.37 ; from September, 1888, to September, 1889, $4,817.67 ; from 
September, 1889, to September, 1890, $5,533.35 ; from September, 1S90, to 
September, 1S91, $5,537-77 ; and from September, 1891, to April 30, 1892, 
$5,322.10. 

O. (By Mr. Clifford.) Does that maintenance include all the money 
paid by the company, except the construction account ? That is, does the 
construction account and maintenance account include all the money that 
has ever been spent by the company ? 

A. Interest. The maintenance account is what we call purely operat- 
ing expenses. There is nothing of construction at all in that, simply to 
keep the works in order, and to pay for the engineer, and for the coal and 
repairs. 

O. With regard to this pipe you selected, this wrought-iron pipe, did 
you make any investigation of it personally ? 

A. Well, I wrote to the Standard Oil Company about it ; I wrote out 
to several places in the West where they had it. The National Tube Works 
Company issued a book in which they stated where this pipe had been used, 
and I wrote to quite a number of towns where they had had it, and they 
expressed themselves as thoroughly satisfied with it. The one who had had 
it the longest, or the community which had had it the longest, was Virginia 
City, Montana, and I think they wrote to me that they had had it in from 8 
to 10 years, and it was as good then as it was the day it was put in. Then a 
friend of mine, Mr. Potter, who was afterwards the builder and superinten- 
dent of the vSouth Chicago Rolling Mill, and a graduate from a special course 
at the Institute of Technology, and who was a visitor at the house a good 



162 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



deal, told me that unquestionably it was the best pipe in the world in his 
opinion, and he was glad we were willing to put it in in place of cast-iron. 
And Mr. Potter has a reputation as an iron man which is certainly a very 
good one. 

0. Have you stated all the investigation you made about it ? 

A. We didn't make any ; I looked at cast-iron and I saw that that 
filled up very fast and didn't last a long time, and so I thought if it was 
possible to get anything any better, we should be glad to do so. 

O. Did you examine any specimen that had been laid ? 

A. Of this kind of pipe ? 

O. Yes. 

A. Before we put it in, no. 

O. Since you put it in, have you ? 

A. I have seen it whenever it has been dug up. 

O. What is the condition of it ? 

A. It is in good order ; in as good order, practically, as it was the day 
it was put down. 

Third Hearing. 

Boston, Thursday, Feb. 23, 1893. 
The Commissioners met at the Equity Court Room, in the Old Court 
House, at ten o'clock A. M. 

Re-Cross-ExaminaTion oe William L. Faxon. 

O. {By Mr. Morse.) There is another matter I forgot to ask you 
about, and that is with regard to the laying of pipes ; I intended to ask you 
when I asked Dr. Gordon. Did }^ou personally see to the laying of the 
pipes, do you say ? 

A. No, I didn't see to the laying of the pipes ; no sir. 

O. I mean they were laid under your supervision ; you testified this 
morning, did you not, that you observed them as closely and more closely 
than an engineer would? 

A. Yes, I observed them, but they were not laid under my super- 
vision. I think I spent more time on the works than an engineer would. 

O. I mean you knew where the pipes were laid ? 

A. Yes. 

O. Will you state to the Commissioners where the pipe-laying began, 
in what streets, and give us the sizes of the pipes in the different streets? 

A. I can't do it. 

O. Tell us where the pipe-laying began ? 

A. I can't tell whether it was on the 20-inch pipe— they laid a piece of 
the 20-inch pipe from the station, and they laid it on different streets where 
they were to be laid, as the pipe was delivered. 

O. I want to get the exact order, as near as you can recall it ? 

A. I couldn't tell you the exact order. 

Q. But Dr. Gordon said yesterday, as I understood it, we could get 
this information from you, and therefore I waived the question to him. 

A. I couldn't tell you the exact order. 

Q. As nearly as you can ? 

A. Well, I don't know. I should not pretend to tell you the exact 



THE QUINCY CASE. 163 



order in which they were laid ; but I can tell you this, that the 20-inch pipe 
was laid before frost. 

O. Where was that laid ? 

A. That was laid from the pumping station to Franklin street ; and 
some of the pipe down towards the Point. 

Q. In what streets ? 

A. That would be Elm and Union and Washington streets. 

Q. What size of pipe ? 

A. There is a 10-inch pipe in Elm and Union, I think. 

Q. How about Washington street ? 

A. I think 8, 6, 5 and 4, down to the Point. I can't make a statement 
about it. 

Q. Have you any memorandum about it which will help you ? 

A. It is on the book. 

Q. That doesn't show about the order in which the pipes were laid ? 

A. No. 

Q. That is what I am trying to get at now, the order in which the pipes 
were laid ? 

A. That would be absurd ; I couldn't think of remembering the streets 
one after the other. 

Q. There was no account kept by anybody showing that ? 

A. I think Mr. Howland may have kept it. 

Q. Do you know he did ? 

A. I don't know. If he had an 18-inch pipe to lay in Water street, and 
laid it, there would be no use in keeping a memorandum of it. 

O. Before the frost came the first year, can you tell us what pipes were 
laid? 

A. I think the greater part of all the pipe in the centre, the main pipe 
in the centre, and towards the Point, audi think a portion on Water street, 
before frost. The 12-iuch pipe laid through Elm street down to Beal street ; 
the trench was dug, but the pipe was delayed, so we had to lay it after the 
ground was frozen. I think the trench was dug before the ground was 
frozen, but the trench was open from the corner of School and Elm, I 
think, to at least Standish avenue. That would be before the winter ; 
might have been in November when it was laid— November or December. 
It was laid simply because the trench was open, and we had to keep it 
open two or three weeks waiting for the pipe. 

Q. What were the pipes which you recollect were laid in the spring of 
1884? 

A. All the Atlantic system and a part of the Wollaston, if not all the 
Wollaston. I should think all the Wollaston and Atlantic, and some in the 
west, I think. 

Q. Were the pipes which were first laid of the same kind as those 
which were subsequently laid ? 

A. I think so. I know no reason why the pipe is not exactly the 
same. 

Q. I mean by that the same coating ? 

A. I suppose it is the same coating ; it was bought for Kalamein pipe. 

Q. Did you, at any time, make any specifications for a different or 
better kind of pipe from that originally laid ? 



164 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. No. 

Q. Was it always 

A. Better pipe? No, uo better pipe. 

O. Always described in the same way, Kalamein pipe ? 

A. Kalamein pipe, so described. We buy it ourselves ; after the first 
the company has bought it all ; we have bought it from the National Tube 
Works ourselves. 

Q. Do you know, as a matter of fact, from any examination made by 
yourself, that the pipe which you bought subsequently was the same as that 
which was laid originally by the contractor ? 

A. No, sir. I should depend upon the reputation and honesty of the 
National Tube Works Compauy, that they gave us the same pipe. That is 
the pipe they have advertised, and that is what we have bought. 

O. Was any pipe laid with a tar lining ? 

A. What do you mean, a tar lining? 

O. An inside lining ? 

A. I don't think so. 

O. Are you sure about that ? 

A. I should be quite sure ; I don't remember of any, I don't know we 
have bought any. Oh, I beg your pardon. There is a small piece, I think 
about 400 feet, on Garfield street, that is a cement-lined pipe. We couldn't 
get the other at the time, and they wanted water, and we put in cement- 
lined pipe. 

O. When was that laid ? 

A. I don't know, the books will tell you. 

O. What sized pipe was that ? 

A. I think it is 6-inch. The books will tell that, too. 

Q. Was that under the original contract ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Something the company laid subsequently ? 

A. Something that the compauy laid ; we tried to get the other pipe 
and couldn't get it, and we didn't want to put in cast-iron and so we put 
in that. 

O. Has there been any discussion in your company as to double- coated 
Kalamein ? 

A. No. 

O. At no time ? 

A. Not that I know of; not in my presence, surely. 

O. (By Judge Bennett.) I want to ask you a question or two with re- 
gard to Mr. Whitman's book. Can you tell us briefly what Mr. Whitman 
did, if anything, to ascertain whether the McClellau contract had been 
faithfully carried out ? 

A. My impression is, Judge, that he was given the list of the streets to 
measure for such pipe, to see if they had been laid from such a point to such 
a point, and then that was compared with the list in the contract. Mr. 
Whitman, I suppose, could not know what the size of the pipe was under 
the ground, but wherever it shows in the company's plan that a certain size 
of pipe is laid, there is no question but what the pipe is there. I can swear 
to that, that the pipe is there according to that size and for the length as 
specified. And this was simply to show that the length of pipe put in from 



THE QUINCY CASE. 165 



such a point to such a point was as Mr. McClellan had agreed to lay, the 
company believing and knowing that the size of pipe was there, but not be- 
ing certain as to the exact number of feet. 

Boston, April 10, 1893. 
Frank E. Hall, Sworn. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Did you know anything about this pipe that 
was used there before you went to Ouincy ? 

A. No, sir ? didn't know anything about it until I saw it there. 

Q. You saw it there and it has been put down since that under your 
direction ? 

A. Yes, been laid ever since. 

Q. Have you specimens of it that have laid underground any length of 
time ? 

A. I have some, but they are not here at present. 

O. Well, for what length of time have those specimens laid under- 
ground ? 

A. Those that I have from four to six years, I should say. 

O. What is your opinion in regard to this pipe, in regard to its dura- 
bility and strength ? 

A. Judging from nine years' experience, I should consider the pipe in 
good condition to-day and consider it a durable pipe. 

Q. What estimate do you place upon it as compared with other pipe 
that is used — cast-iron pipe ? 

A. I cannot give a comparison. I cannot state from knowledge of this 
as I can from cast-iron pipe, because I don't know that it has been used so 

long it has not been tised as long — but from present indications with 

the pipe in Ouincy I see no objection to using it as a permanent pipe. 

O. Have you seen it manufactured ? 

A. I have. 

O. Been to the works ? 

A. Been to the works. 

Q. Where are they located ? 

A. McKeesport, Pa. 

Q. Could you describe the process of manufacture in a general way ? 

A. It is rolled and welded — I can have that described better by some 
one else later on ; but the process of treating the pipe is that the pipe is 
thoroughly cleaned of all cinder and scale, dirt, then it is dipped into a hot 
bath of alloy and then treated with coating of asphaltuin, or a mixture of 
asphaltum and other ingredients, which makes an outside coating, Kalamein. 

O. Well, we would like to have them here to show to the commission. 
Now, won't you, in a general way, describe where the different sized pipes 
are laid in the city ? I don't expect you to go through each street and give 
us the size of the pipe, because the details are given in the lists that we put 
in, but tell us as to the main pipes, and as to where the large pipes and the 
small pipes are laid ? 

A. I will give it as near as I can. 

O. As you recollect it. 

A. Starting at the pumping station, a 20-inch pipe goes through— do 
you care for the names of the streets ? 



166 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. Yes, sir ; the names, you might name them. 

A. A 20-inch pipe in Penn, Liberty and Water Streets to Franklin 
Street, a 16-inch pipe from Water Street up Franklin, to the stand-pipe 
located there, then a 16-inch from Water Street to School, through School 
to Hancock, a 12-inch running through Hancock to Beal Street, supplying 
Wollaston with an 8-inch, then a 10-inch from Beal to Squautum Street, 
8-inch from Squautum Street to near the railroad bridge, with a 4-inch 
leading around Squautum Street, through Squautum Street and these 
various streets, and connecting again at Hancock Street, at that point, and 
a 6-inch pipe from the railroad bridge to Atlantic Street, 4-inch beyond 
there to Newbury Street, then there is a 2-inch laid down to the river. This 
section, Wollaston Park, has a 6 and 4-inch pipe through Elm Avenue, con- 
necting with a 6-inch in East Elm Avenue, making a circuit around through 
Beach Street to Hancock Street, again of 6-inch, with a four and 6-inch in 
some of the other streets. From junction of Franklin and Water Streets an 
8-inch pipe, through Water Street to Ouincy Avenue. There is also an 8- 
inch pipe in Elm Street from Hancock, corner of School Street, coming 
through Elm, Morton, Union, Washington Street, 8-iuch to Sumner Street, 
7-inch from there to about North Street, and then reducing to 6, 5 and 4- 
inch to the bridge. West Ouincy a 10-inch pipe, starting from the 20-inch 
at the corner of Water Street as far as the corner of Granite Street, 8-inch 
through Copeland Street, then 6 and 4-inch to Williard Street, with a 6-inch 
to Cross Street aud those points. Then there is a 2-inch through Hall 
Place, with a 6-inch laid up through Rogers Street and in that vicinity, 
and that takes the municipal limits. 

O. Is all the pipe of the distributing system this same pipe — this 
National Tube Works pipe ? 

A. It is, all excepting the 20-inch, and the 2-inch pipe in use is of 
galvanized iron. 

O. Well, where is the 20-inch ? 

A. 20-inch from the pumping station to the corner of Franklin and 
Water Streets. 

O. What is that ? 

A. That is cast-iron. 

O. And the 2-inch galvanized ? 

A. The 2-iuch is galvanized iron. 

O. Now, Mr. Hall, what do you say in general about this distributing- 
system, as to — it is suggested to me that there is some pipe you haven't 
spoken of, cement-line pipe. Is there any ? 

A. There is ; yes, sir. It is in Garfield Street ; in Kidder Street and 
Garfield Street there is some cement-lined pipe, I think, about 1,300 feet. 

O. Was that put in after you went there ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What is the size of that pipe ? 

A. 4 and 6-inch. There is 300 feet of 4-inch, I find. Well, there is 
some few hundred feet of 6-inch. 

Q. I was going to ask you, Mr. Hall, as a person skilled in such 
matters, what your opinion is of this distributing system as a permanent 
distributing system, so far as it extends, for the City of Ouincy — as to 
whether it is sufficient in the size of the pipes and in other respects, capable 



THE QUINCY CASE. 167 



of extension to meet all the wants of the town or city as a distributing 
system for the water. What is yonr opinion ? 

A. The general layout I consider sufficient for the requirements of the 
city for a number of years. There are some places, a number of streets, 
where there is 4-inch pipe. That eventually will be connected at both ends, 
and so supplied that but very little of this pipe would have to be taken up 
to make a system that would give a sufficient quantity of water. I don't 
now include the 2-inch— what is put down as 2-inch. That has always been 
considered as temporary pipe. It is put in to supply domestic service, where 
the company didn't have money — means to lay pipe that would be of 
sufficient size to furnish fire protection, put in, as a rule, where there- would 
be only one or two houses to supply at that time. Extensions afterwards 
have been made from time to time in many localities, as called for. 

O. Well, that would hav2 to be taken up ? 

A. That undoubtedly will have to be taken up. 

O. Well, with that exception, will there be any necessity for any large 
removal of pipe to complete the system ? 

A. Not any large extent ; some changes might be necessary, but not 
much. 

O. What do you say about the fire service which the system furnishes ? 

A. It furnishes good fire service ; that is, considering the number of 
hydrants that are in use. There are not as many hydrants as there should 
be to give an efficient fire service. 

Q. Is there any want of water where there are hydrants ? 

A. No. 

Q. Have you observed it practically in use ? 

A. I have. 

O. In instances, I suppose, of fire there ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. And there has been no instance of any want of water ? 

A. No. There is only one case where there has ever been any com- 
plaint of want of water. That was in West Ouincy at the time the school- 
house was burned ; but the pressure at the works at the office was all right ; 
and I considered that it was more in the application, the way it was applied, 
than it was lack of service. 

Recess to 2:15 P. M. 



Afternoon Session. 

Frank E. Haee resumed. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) The photographs and specimens of pipe you 
will have here to-morrow ? 

A. Yes. I expected to have the photographs here this afternoon. I 
have sent for them, but I have not got them. They will be here before four 
o'clock if they come. 

O. Have you known of the city of Ouincy taking out any of these pipes 
recently ? 

A. There was a piece taken up last week. 

O. More than one piece ? 



168 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. No, sir ; one piece. 

O. Taken up for the purpose of use here, as you understand ? 

A. I understood so ; yes, sir. 

O. Do you know under what circumstances it was taken up, as to 
whether a selection was made of the pipe ? 

A. No. 

O. Taken up at random ? 

A. Taken out at random. It was in charge— the City Solicitor had 
charge of it, and was at liberty to make selection anywhere he chose, the 
City Solicitor and Mr. Blake together. 

O. Now, in taking out this one piece, was more than one place opened, 
or was the pipe examined in more than one place ? 

A. There was external examination in six other places, I believe. 

Q. Six other places ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And at this one place they took out a piece ? 

A. In one place a piece was removed. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. (By Judge Bennett.) Mr. Hall, is there any way of ascertaining 
approximately how much was lost by discarded service pipe, which has 
gone into the Construction Account, in figures ? 

A. I think I can. 

O. Any appreciable amount, any important amount I mean ? 

A. No, sir. As I remember it it was in the vicinity of 15, might have 
been one or two more or less. 

O. I didn't mean the main pipes ; the service pipes ? 

A. The service pipes I refer to, only 15. It would be a small amount. 

O. [By Mr. Goulding.) With regard to this 2-inch pipe, you say may 
ultimately have to be taken up, whether that is at present and has been in 
the past paying for itself from the takers, from the amounts received for the 
sale of water ? 

A. It has. It has, and is doing it to-day. 

Q. When the increase in takers on those lines is such as to surpass its 
capacity, you will have to substitute something else for it ? 

A. It will have to be replaced then by something larger. 

O. (By Mr. Morse?) How much of this tar-lined pipe altogether has 
been laid ? 

A. Perhaps 200 services, more or less. 

Boston, April 11, 1893. 

Leonard F. Kennicut re-cai^ed. 

Q. (By Mr. Goulding .) Have you made any examination of this pipe 
of this distributing system ? 

A. I have. 

O. What examination have you made of that ? 

A. I first determined what the alloy was which covered the pipe, and 
also the effect of acids by allowing these specimens of pipe to remain in 
acids and alkalies for a certain length of time to ascertain the effect they had 



THE QUINCY CASE. 169 



upon the pipes themselves. I have here specimens. I also tried the effect 
of hammering the pipe to see how firmly attached was this alloy. Here is 
a piece of pipe which was hammered until it was perfectly flat, andtheallo)^ 
clings very tenaciously to the pipe, it shows no signs of falling off whatso- 
ever ; different entirely in that way from galvanized iron pipe. You take 
a piece of galvanized iron pipe and hammer it in this way, and the galvan- 
izing is apt to crack and split off, Then I have also here other specimens 
which have been treated for a month with sulphuric acid — the strength of 
the solution was one part of acid to'forty of water — with hydro-chloric acid, 
with nitric acid, and with caustic potash, allowing it to remain in water in 
my laboratory, for 40 days, or as long as I had time. All these specimens 
show that the only acid which has effect upon the pipe is nitric acid ; that 
does act upon this alloy. I also, if you wish, took the weight of the pipe, 
taken before placing it in the various acids, and then the weight after tak- 
ing it out. 

O. I wish to put that in please. If you will, state all the experiments 
you have made upon this pipe, and what the result was of each ? 

A. I found that the alloy is composed of tin, antimony and lead. I 
placed five sections in the following solutions : Sulphuric acid, one part of 
acid to forty of water ; hydro-chloric acid, one part of acid to forty of water; 
nitric acid, one part of acid to forty of water ; nitrate of sodium, one part of 
salt to forty parts of water ; caustic soda, one part of alkali to forty parts of 
water. Then 1 also placed one section in sewage water containing a large 
amount of iron salts. They remained there one month and taken and re- 
weighed. I found that 153^ grams of pipe in the sulphuric acid, after stay- 
ing one mouth, only lost in weight .05 of one gram ; that 153^ grams of 
pipe in hydro-chloric acid lost only .07 of one gram ; that 148 grams of pipe 
in caustic soda did not lose at all in weight ; that 159 grams of pipe in sew- 
age water increased a little in weight owing to a slight deposit of iron oxide 
on the surface of the pipe, very slight ; that 159 grams of pipe in nitric acid 
lost 3.6 grams ; that 149 grams of pipe in sodium nitrate lost .1 of a gram in 
weight; practically that the only substance that had any effect upon the pipe 
was nitric acid. Of course, the solutions used were comparatively strong. 

O. And the time to which they were exposed was one month ? 

A. One mouth ; yes, sir. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Morse.) Dr. Keunicut, from whom did you obtain the 
pieces of pipe which you have used in these experiments ? 

A. These pieces of pipe were sent to me by express, I suppose by Mr. 
Hall, in sections. I received them by express. 

Q. When did you receive them from him ? 

A. Some of the specimens — I have not the date here — some the first 
part of February, and other specimens the last part of February. I mean 
the first part of February and the last part of February. 

O. This last February? 

A. This last February. 

Q, About how many altogether have you had from him ? 

A. I think that I had six or seven sections first, then I had ten sections 
afterwards, I think ; some are still at the laboratory which I have not used. 



170 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Q. How large pieces were sent you ? 

A. They were sections of that shape, sir, which I have here. These 
are the sections. 

Q. When they came to you were they represented to be new pipe or 
old pipe ? 

A. They were all new pipe. 

O. New pipe ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Not pipe that had been laid ? 

A. No, sir, not pipe that had been laid. 

O. Had you before that time been familiar with pipe of that character? 

A. I had never seen any of this Kalamein pipe before ; no, sir. 

O. Have you any piece here in the condition in which you received it 
from Mr. Hall ? 

A. Well ; no, sir. That piece has been in water, but it is in very 
much the same condition ; you could not tell, except for that little mite of 
rust on the bottom the difference between it and what I received. That has 
been in water, that is all. 

O. That looks substantially like that you received ? 

A. Except for the slight discoloration ; yes, sir. 

O. Have you not then been asked to examine any of the pipe which 
has been taken up ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Did you make an analysis of the coating of the pipe ? 

A. I made an analysis of the alloy that was sent to me. They sent me 
a piece of alloy at the same time they sent the pipe. I also dissolved some 
of this off of the pipe and tested it to see they were the same. 

O. Have you that analysis here ? 

A. It is only qualitative. I did not determine any amount, I deter- 
mined what it was made of, lead, tin and antimony. The alloy is made of 
lead, tin and antimony. 

Q. In what percentage ? 

A. I did not determine the quality; sir. 

O. Were those edges of the pipe protected when you received them ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How were they protected ? 

A. They were about as you see here. The whole pipe was coated over 
with alloy, both the sections and where it had been cut off, the end had also 
been protected by the same alloy as the pipe. The whole thing was 
protected. 

Q. This is a piece that you say looks like what you received ? 

A. Yes, sir ; it looks very much like it. Those three specimens you 
could not tell from the original pipe, except for the slight discoloration. 
That hammered piece there has only been hammered. 

Q. You have no knowledge as to where they came from, of course, 
except they were received by you from Mr. Hall ? 

A. That is all I have. 

Mr. Morse : I think it would be well to have those marked in some 
way, those three, that is, by numbers i, 2, 3, 4 — all those there. 

(The specimens were marked 1, J. L. ; 2, J. L,.; 3, J. L. ; 4, J. L.) 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 171 



Frank E. Hah, recalled. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Now, I will come to the pipe. Where do you 
say those came from that were sent to him ? 

A. Those were received by express from the National Tube Works 
Company's works, and afterwards sent by express to Mr. Kennicutt, one 
lot. He afterwerds wanted some more, and those were sent, as I understand, 
direct from the manufactory to Prof. Kennicutt, without going through my 
hands at all ; I didn't see them at all. 

O. Did you examine those that went through your hands particularly 
yourself? 

A. No, sir. 

O. So that you could not testify to those specimens that are produced 
here? 

A. I could not, though I have a sample that I retained just similar to 
these as they were sent. They were sent to him. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Morse.) When did you send for these samples of pipe ? 

A. I could not tell you. It was after I received word from Prof. 
Kennicutt that he would like some more sent. 

Q. Within the last few weeks, do you mean ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. About how long ago ? 

A. I should say the last of January or first of February. 

O. Did you order those samples personally or by letter? 

A. Personally. 

O. Whom did you see ? 

A. Mr. French, the Secretary of the National Tube Works Company. 

O. In Boston ? 

A. Yes. 

O. Did you tell him for what purpose you wanted them ? 

A. I told him Prof. Kennicutt would like a few more samples. 

O. No, but I am asking about the first lot that you sent to Professor 
Kennicutt. 

A. Beg pardon. 

O. I am asking about the first lot that you sent to Prof. Kennicutt. 

A. The Tube Works Company did not know those were to be used for 
inspection. 

O. That I did not ask you in that form. We will go back. When did 
you first get this first lot that you sent to Prof. Kennicutt ? 

A. Those were sent to me, I think, in December. 

O. Did you order those personally ? 

A. I did. 

O. Of Mr. French ? 

A. No. Those I ordered at the works. 

O. Where ? 

A. In McKeesport. 

O. You went down there for the purpose of getting them, did you ? 

A. No, sir. I went on there to see the process of manufacturing the 
pipe. 



172 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 

Q. Why were you interested in that then ? 

A. I wanted to see the manufacture. 

O. But you were not proposing to go into that business at that time ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you go on with reference to preparing to testify in this case ? 

A. Well, not wholly. 

O. What other object did you have ? 

A. I went because the engineers, some of the engineers, with whom I 
am engaged thought it would be well to see the process of manufacturing. 
I never had seen the pipe made, and after consulting with them it was 
decided I would go with them. 

Q. Who paid the expenses of that trip ? 

A. The Quincy Water Co. 

Q. Didn't the National Tube Works understand the object of the trip ? 

A. They understood the object of the visit. 

O. And you obtained those samples from whom there ? 

A. I don't know the name of the man I ordered them from. We saw 
some pipe made, and some samples were cut from the pipe which we saw 
treated, and we gave them directions to have those sent by express and also 
to have samples of small size. I think this size was mentioned. 

O. Well, Mr. Hall, it was understood during that visit, was it not, that 
the question of the value and character of this pipe was to be tested in this 
case ? 

A. It was understood. 

O. It was spoken between you and the officers and representatives of 
the company there, so that when these samples were taken by you it was 
understood by them, was it not, that they were to be used in connection 
with this case ? 

A. That they might be. 

O. You had no personal knowledge as to whether the processes used 
at that time were the same as those used at the time that the pipe was made 
which 3'ou laid down in Ouincy ? 

A. I have not. 

O. This was the first experience with the process ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Then when you gave the second order, you gave it to Mr. French 
personally, as I understand ? 

A. The second order, yes. 

O. And you explained to him that those samples were required by 
Prof. Kennicutt for further analysis ? 

A. I did. 

O. Did you have in your possession any of the pipe originally delivered 
to the Ouincy Water Company which had not been laid ? 

A. Not that I am aware of. I think not. 

O. One question I ought to have asked you yesterday : Wheu you 
gave the dimensions of the pipes that were laid in Ouincy, did you mean 
by the diameters as given by the diameter inside the pipe or the outside 
diameter ? 

A. The cast-iron pipe I intended to give the inside diameter, the 
wrought-iron diameter is given from the outside. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 173 



RE-Direct Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Colliding.) Mr. Hall, one question I had forgotten. That 
is, you were to bring in samples of pipe taken up from the ground. Have 
you got them here to-day ? 

A. I think they are here, some of them at least. 

Q. Will you produce such as you have ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Goulding : There is no reason why they should not be put in and 
marked. 

(Witness produced four samples of pipe). 

O. How many samples have you of pipe taken up ? 

A. Four, I think it is. 

O, What is the large pipe, io-inch or 12-inch, or what is it — up there 

A. That is 12-inch. 

Q. Where was that taken from ? 

A. That was laid on Hancock street, in April, 1884. 

O. When was it taken up ? 

A. In September, 1890. 

Mr. Goulding : I would like to offer that as an exhibit. 

(Sample of 12-inch pipe, marked Exhibit 37, J. L., April 11, 1893. 

O. {By Mr. Morse. ) Will you state whereabouts on Hancock street, 
Mr. Hall ? 

A. On Hancock street, opposite Elm avenue. That piece was taken 
out at the time connection was made with Hancock street, to lay pipe from 
Elm avenue to Wollastou Park. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) What is the next piece ? 

A. This piece was laid in Ouincy avenue in 1883. 

O. What is that you now have in your hand ? What is that specimen? 
What is it, 3-inch ? 

A. Four-inch. 

O. A piece of 4-inch pipe? 

A. A piece of 4-inch pipe laid in Ouincy avenue, in 1883. 

O. Taken up when ? 

A. In 1892. 

Mr. Goulding : That I will offer as Exhibit 38. 

(Sample of pipe above described, marked Exhibit 38, J. L,., April nth, 

1893-) 

O. Now, the third piece. Describe it so it will appear on the record. 

What is it ? 

A. There is a piece of 6-inch pipe that was laid on Miller street; the 
date of laying is torn off here. I can furnish that later. It was taken up 
in 1892. 

O. Do you know about how long it had laid there, about what the date 
of laying was? 

A. Probably about 1889. 

Mr. Goulding : I offer that as an exhibit. 

(Specimen of pipe, marked Exhibit 39, J. L,-, April n, 1S93). 

Q. Now, your remaining piece is described how? 

A. This is a piece of 4-inch pipe laid in Crescent street in April, 1890, 
taken up December, 1891. 



174 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Mr. Goulding : That I will offer as Exhibit 40. 
(Specimen of pipe, marked Exhibit 40, J. L., April 11, 1893). 

Re-Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Morse.) Were any of these pipes taken up with ref- 
erence to this case, or were they taken up in the course of work of the 
company ? 

A. Taken up in course of work. The piece of 12-inch I think I 
explained about. The piece of 4-inch on Ouincy avenue was taken up to 
make connection with the new engine house which was being built. The 
piece from Miller street was taken up to make connection for the new 
school house. 

O. Was there a memorandum made at the time they were taken as to 
where they came from ? 

A. It was very soon after. 

O. Why was that done ? 

A. I don't know as it was made soon afterwards. The first attention 
that was given to it was when some of these samples were put on exhibition 
in a window there. I looked up this report of the man who took them out, 
and traced them out, and then they were labelled. 

Q. Is there a memorandum on that large pipe that it was taken out in 
1890? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Is it 18S9 or 1890 ? 

A. Taken up in September, 1890. 

O. When was that memorandum put on ? 

A. Probably in the spring of 1892. 

O. You put on the memorandum, did you not? 

A. I did ; I think I did. 

O. What time in the spring of 1892 ? 

A. Or it might have been in the winter. 

O. It might have been in the winter ? 

A. Yes. Well, the first time they were labelled at all was when they 
were in Durgin's window. 

O. When was that ? 

A. I cannot tell what month that was ; probably in January, possibly. 

O. Were they all labelled at the same time ? 

A. As near as I can remember. Previous to that time they had been 
laying out-doors, kicking around, or in the scrap bag. 

O. Did you have in your possession at the time you labelled them any 
memorandum which showed where they were taken from ? 

A. I had the reports of the man who did the work ; that gave me the 
dates, and he identified the pieces as being taken out. I think the piece 
that was taken out on Ouincy avenue was brought direct to me at the 
time. 

O. Are these all the pieces of pipe in your possession which were taken 
up by the company ? 

A. I think so ; all that were taken up while the company had charge ; 
all that have been saved, anyway. I have one piece that was taken out 
since the city took the works. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 175 



O. Why were they kept by you ? 

A. I don't know of any special reason until they commenced to talk 
about the pipe. They were not taken out for purpose of exhibition. 

O. No, but were they kept for that purpose ? 

A. Not until something over a year ago. 

O. Has not there been more pipe than this taken up, Mr. Hall, since 
it was originally laid? 

A. Oh, there have been more pieces cut out. 

O. What has become of these ? 

A. Well, I could not tell ; they have been in the — I presume they have 
gone for scrap. There may be some pieces in the yard now. 

O. Why was that long piece of pipe taken out, the pipe on Crescent 
Street ? 

A. I think that was a hydrant pipe ; I think there was a hydrant 
changed, and that was a portion of the pipe, but I am not sure about that. 

O. You have no personal knowledge in regard to any of these pipes as 
to where they came from ? 

A. Yes. With that exception I was not present. I was present when 
the 12-iuch pipe was taken up, that piece of 12-inch. The other two I was 
not present at the immediate time the work was done, but the work was 
turned over to me very soon after it was done. 

Q. I understood you to say that the foreman identified the piece of 12- 
inch pipe ? 

A. I was there at the time it was taken out. Yes, I intended to identify 
the 12-inch pipe. 

O. I understood you to say that the foreman identified that ? 

A. Some of the others I intended to say. 

O. and that you referred especially to the 12-inch ? 

A. It was not my intention. 

O. Who was the foreman ? 

A. Mr. Gleason. 

Re-Direct Examination. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding.) Mr. Hall, do I understand these pieces of 
pipe you now produce were taken out for the purpose of inspection or not ? 

A. No, sir ; they were taken out in the course of work on the system. 

O. What was done with them in the first place ? 

A. They were put out-doors in what we call the scrap heap. 

Q. When was your attention first called to the fact that any question 
was to be raised about this pipe, any criticism of it ? 

A. Well, the first idea of ever preserving or taking these for samples, 
there was a druggist there in the city who wanted to know if I had some 
samples of pipe that he could put in a window for exhibition, and these 
were taken out of that scrap heap, excepting the one that was taken out in 
1892. 

O. Now, whether before the Legislative Committee, on the question 
whether Ouincy should be granted the right to suppfy itself with an inde- 
pendent supply, the question of the quality of the pipe was brought up ? 

A. It was. 

Q. And that was in the year 1891 ? 



176 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Yes, 1891. 

O. Was that the first time that any public attention had been called to 
it? 

A. It was. 

O. Since that time, I suppose, you have taken pains to preserve these 
specimens ? 

A. These have been saved since that time, some of them. 

Charges A. Allen, Sworn. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Do I understand that in your opinion the 
system as it is laid down there is a good one for a permanent distributing 
system with such reinforcement as can be given to it without taking up any 
considerable portion of the pipe that is laid ? 

A. I think so, yes, sir. As I say, there are some places where a small 
amount of pipe would have to be taken up and replaced by larger pipe, but 
that is a very inconsiderable amount. Of course, the 2-inch pipe I except 
from that. 

O. Now, have you made any examination of this pipe itself? 

A. I have examined the pipe, that is, I have examined the samples of 
pipe that have been taken up, I have inquired into the manufacture of the 
pipe, seen the pipe made, and have seen it tested in various ways. 

O. What opinion, if any, have you formed in regard to the quality, 
durability and value of this pipe ? 

A. Well, I can see no reason why the pipe should not be durable pipe, 
should not be one which would be satisfactory and give good service, judging 
entirely, of course, from my studies made and observations made recently. 

O. What experiments with or what examinations have you made of the 
pipe, if you will give us a little of the detailed account of that, Mr. Allen ? 

A. Well, I went to McKeesport for the purpose of seeing how the pipe 
was made with Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Hall and Mr. Gray. We saw the pipe 
manufactured, and we selected samples of the pipe from their storehouse 
which contained hundreds of tons, various sizes, had them tested as to 
strength, and as far as anyone can judge the pipe is a very satisfactory pipe 
for the purpose. 

O. Have you the samples that you selected and treated ? 

A. I have them here in my bag. 

O. You will produce them and explain them ? 

A. I will. (Witness produces samples.) These are samples of the 
small size pipe, but they are made in exactly the same way, by the same 
process in every way as the larger ones. 

O. Explain what they are. 

A. This section was cut from a pipe that we selected at random from 
their storehouse, and it was cut in three pieces, as you see here. There was 
some question in my mind as to whether or not the preparation with which 
the pipe is coated would stand any handling, whether upon receiving a blow 
or by rough handling it would act in the same way that galvanizing does, 
and so we had this put under a triphammer to see whether the kalameining 
would start or not — show any signs of rupture. I will hand these to the 
Commission. They did not ; there was no indication that it started off at 
all. Now, with a galvanized pipe, one blow of the triphammer would nip- 



THE QUINCY CASE. 177 



ture the galvanizing, and it wonld be apt to scale off, very likely would 
scale off. I might say that the pipes are riveted, they are heated red-hot, 
after being bent into practically a cylindrical shape form, and then most of 
the pipes are — they are not lap-welded, they are simply butt-welded, done 
by running through rolls— and inside of the pipe is a cone of the exact 
diameter of the inside of the pipe. There are some more samples that were 
taken at the same time, that I did not have with me, of the larger pipe. 

O. What is that done with ? 

A. That is done with a triphammer. There is a section (exhibiting 
sample) about the same height as that one (exhibiting another sample), 
pounded down to that shape. Here is another one pounded down to that 
shape. 

Q. {By Mr. Robinson.) You don't mean the same size? 

A. I said the same height of section ; I was not speaking of the dia- 
meter, I was speaking of the length of the section. 

Q. {By Mr. Gould ing.) From this experiment and your examination 
of this thing, what do you say with regard to the comparative durability of 
this pipe, as compared with the cast-iron pipe ? 

A. Well, all I can say is that I can see no reason why the pipe should 
not be as durable as cast iron. It depends altogether upon the adaptability 
of this coating, upon whether it is suitable to protect it from the action of 
the acids and dampness in the soil. If it is, it certainly will last as long as 
cast iron, and the life of that is unknown practically; and I have every 
reason to suppose it is. 

O. Have you examined these specimens which have been taken out of 
the ground, which Mr. Hall has produced? 

A. I think I have seen most of those, all of them, in fact. 

O. What is there about them to indicate how this material resists the 
action of whatever there may be in the water or in the earth ? 

A. I can see nothing about this pipe, that is, I can see no indication 
of any corrosion at all. The asphalt covering has been scraped off, re- 
moved, but the Kalameining, so far as I can judge, is perfect; I can see no 
indication of corrosion. 

O. {By Judge Bennett.) Can you tell us what this coating is ? 

A. I cannot, except that the basis is tin instead of zinc ; that is, I say 
instead of zinc, the basis of galvanizing is zinc, and this is tin. The formula 
I don't know, they didn't give that to us ; it is a secret, I presume. 

O. Do you know any that has been used any length of time ? 

A. I do not. I understand it is used extensively in the West, but I 
have no knowledge of that. 

O. {By Mr. Clifford. ) What is the cause of the discoloration inside 
(referring to one of the samples) ? 

A. There was one sample, and I think that is the one, which was taken 
from pipe which was lying outside, and probably it had oxidized a little. 

O. You said it was taken from the warehouse ? 

A. Part of it was covered and part was not ; they called it a storehouse. 
It scrapes right off and still shows the Kalameining inside. 

Mr. Goulding : I have reached a point in Mr. Allen's examina- 
tion where I desire to enter upon a new subject, and since he has 
gone on the stand, a short witness, with regard to the value of the real estate, 



178 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



has come into Court, who would like to get away, and I would like to put 
him on to-night if the Court is willing, and with the consent of the other 
side and of the Court I would like to suspend Mr. Allen's examination. 

David Franklin Badger, Sworn. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) It was during the building of these works and 
putting in the distributing system ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Did you keep an account of any part on the distributing system of 
pipes that were laid ? 

A. Well, not myself, but for him, in his own books ; at least I don't 
remember whether I did anything of that kind under Mr. Howland or not. 

O. I have a book here which purports to be an account of the pipe laid 
in the streets. Is any part of it in your handwriting ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What part of it is in your handwriting ? 

A. From page 30 to 42 inclusive. 

Mr. Goulding : This is Exhibit 21. It has been put in, the book has, 
and I called the witness to verify the entries. 

O. Now, from 31 to 42, you say, the entries were kept by you ? 

A. From 30 to 42. 

O. What is it ? What does it purport to be ? 

A. Well, this is notes on the water pipe, that is, to show where it is 
laid. 

O. It shows the size that is laid and the length ? 

A. I don't know anything aboiit one size, that is to say, now. Possi- 
bly there may be a note made here of the different sizes. 

O. What does the book show ? 

A. I simply recorded these lines and figures as they are taken for 
measurement. 

O. Well, the lines show what ? 

A. Those lines show just simph' to represent the pipe line. Of course, 
it is necessary to make a line on the book to work from. 

O. Does it show the street ? 

A. Yes, sir. Now, for instance, excuse me, here is West Street. I 
find I made a note here the distance from different points from one place to 
another, and made a note of the Ys and Ts and so forth. 

O. But you don't know the size of the pipe, do you? 

A. Well, I find here in one place on Copeland Street, between Miller 
Street and Common Street, a reduction in the size of pipe ; that is to say, it 
is reduced from 8 inches to 6 inches. And I think very likely there are 
other places just the same recorded here. 

O. That shows the number of Ys and the number of Ts ; does it show 
the length of the pipe ? 

A. It does. 

Q. But does not show its size, only as you say, by the note ? 

A. Well, it says, now here I have an 8-inch gate, here is a T and a Y ; 
yes, it shows all the different sizes of the pipe. 

Q. How, is that a correct record as the pipe was laid down as far as 
kept by you ? 



THE QLHNCY CASE. 179 



A. To the best of my knowledge. 

O. You were there to keep a record at the time ? 

A. Yes. 

Mr. Morse : Did Mr. Badger have anything to do with making those 
measurements ? 

The Witness : I did them myself ; all that I made note of I did myself. 

O. So far as the book, as you have stated, is made by you, it is a cor- 
rect record of what was put down ? 

A. Yes, sir ; so far as rny figures and writing are concerned here, they 
are correct to the best of my knowledge. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Morse.') Do I understand Mr. Badger, that you were con- 
nected with the laying of the pipe ? Did you superintend that ? 

A. That depends on what you mean. 

Q. Well, did you have anything to do with the laying of the pipes ? 

A. I had no charge of any laying of it. 

O. Were these measurements made after the pipe was laid ? 

A. I could not say, but I should think they were. 

O. Do you remember certainly about that ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You seemed to have some doubt a moment ago as to whether the 
measurements were made before or after the pipe was laid ? 

A. Well, now, of course there were— the ground was gone over sev- 
eral times, I should say, at least twice any way, but those measurements 
were taken, if I remember rightly, after the pipe was laid. 

O. Did anybody assist you in taking the measurements ? 

A. Most certainly. 

O. Do you remember who ? 

A, I could not tell you now. 

Boston, April 12, 1893. 

George N. Riley, sworn. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) What is your full name, Mr. Riley? 

A. George N. Riley. 

O. Where do you reside ? 

A. I reside in Braddock, Pennsylvania. 

O. What is your occupation ? 

A. My occupation is a mechanical engineer. 

O. In what branch of mechanics are you engaged? 

A. Well, I am now engaged in pipe manufacturing. 

Q. For what concern ? 

A. The National Tube Works Company. 

O. That is the concern that made this pipe used in the Quincy Water 
Works ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What is your relation to that business ? 

A. Well, I have been consulting engineer for those people in that 
particular line of business ever since they introduced this pipe for water 



180 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



works purposes, sometimes putting in water works plants and giving such 
information as would be needed for building water works, and general in- 
formation in that line ; also in the manufacture of it and preparing it for use. 

O. Were you connected with the company when the works were put in 
at Ouincy? 

A. Oh, yes, sir ; yes, sir ; I was connected with the — I have been with 
them for 18 years. 

O. Eighteen years ? 

A. I have been with our people for 18 years, yes, sir. 

O. How long has this pipe been manufactured ? 

A. This particular kind of pipe? 

O. Yes, this particular kind of pipe in use at Ouincy. 

A. I think it was in 1882 that we introduced this for water works pur- 
poses, that is, with this Kalamein process of protection or coating. 

O. Won't you in a general way describe the process of the manufacture 
of this Kalamein pipe ? 

A. The pipe is made from wrought iron, the plate is first prepared, 
rolled out to a proper thickness, and then scarfed and bevelled up and 
welded. After it has been welded and tested for the purpose it is going to 
be used for it is then taken and cleansed from all foreign substances, such as 
grease, or anything of that kind, and it is then put into this alloy — that is a 
patent process, called Kalamein, which is heated to a temperature of about 
600 degrees. The pipe is plunged into that and remains until it becomes of 
the same temperature as the alloy ; consequently the pores of the pipe open 
up, of the iron pipe, and the alloy becomes incorporated into the body of 
the pipe, becoming a part of the same. It is then taken out, and it is then 
ready for use. 

O. You say you began using it in 1882 for water works purposes ? 

A. Yes, sir ; I think along about that time, to the best of my knowl- 
edge. I have not looked at our records ; I just came here hurriedly. 

O. To what extent is it in use now ? 

A. Well, we have now in use a little over 2,000 miles now for water 
works purposes. 

O. Whereabouts ? 

A. All over the country ; parts of Mexico, Gautemala, South America. 
It is used where other pipe is out of the question, where the soils contain 
elements such as alkali which dissolve any material which is not protected. 
The pipe is used principally for that purpose, and it stands a very high 
pressure and high duty. 

Q. What is the effect on it of soil and water ? 

A. Well, we have never encountered anything in the way of soil or 
water that would corrode it or affect it. We have had it down for years and 
taken it up and found it just as good as the day it was laid. 

O. How many years have you known it to be down and examined it 
after it was taken up ? 

A. Well, I would judge that this was one of the first works that we 
put in. The first works we put in in 1882, to my knowledge, in Salida, 
Colorado. I uncovered a piece of that pipe myself last summer in an 
alkali bed, and it was good then. I thought I would just like to see how 
the pipe looked, and I uncovered it. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 181 



O. How does it compare in strength with cast-iron? 

A. Oh, it is a great deal stronger, a great deal stronger. It is a very 
elastic metal, wrought iron, and it will stand a very high pressure. 

Q. What is the fact about this Kalatnein coming offunder hard usage, 
as hammering? 

A. Oh, it cannot come off; it is not a coating ; it is incorporated into 
the body of the iron ; it becomes a part of the metal. You cannot start it 
off; you cannot knock it off; you cannot beat it off with a hammer or any- 
thing of that kind. 

O. (Referring to the four samples of pipe produced by Mr. Hall as 
having been taken up at Ouincy.) There is a piece of pipe that Mr. Hall 
produces which is No. i of the pipe taken out at Ouincy. What do you say 
about the effect of the earth on that and water? 

A. That seems all right. 

Q. Does it produce any effect upon it to destroy it or damage it ? 

A. I don't see any spots on that ; no, sir. I should not want any better 
evidence than that. 

O. What is the effect of your scraping ; how do you find the coating 
to be? 

A. Oh, it looks excellent ; it looks as good as the day it was put down. 
It has not been affected ; in fact, the outside part has not been affected on 
that — the asphaltum. Were these taken out ? 

O. Yes, sir ; these four specimens were taken out of the ground at 
Quincy. 

A. As perfect as can be, right about where if there was any trouble it 
would show, right there. 

Mr. Robinson : Show the Commissioners what you show by scraping 
that off. 

The Witness: If there was any defect at all it would show there. 
Here is where the first evidence would appear, right where it comes in con- 
tact with the steel caulking tool, and that looks as good now 

Q. {By Mr. Bennett ) When you cut through it does it show the same 
all the way through ? 

A. All the way through ? Oh, no. No, it does not go through the 
pores of the iron, we could not drive it through it, you know, it goes in as 
far as it expands, it is a very fine alloy. That is one reason why they 
won't flake. 

O. {By Mr. Robinson.) Here is another one you didn't look at. See 
if that is in the same condition. 

A. That is all right when you get down to it. 

Q. After you get through the asphaltum ? 

A. Yes, it is all right, sir. There is something a person might think 
appeared to be rust, but it runs from some rust, but the body of the pipe is 
not injured. 

O. {By Mr. Gould ing.) Now, having examined those four pieces of 
pipe taken from the ground at Ouincy, do you find any evidence, if so, 
what are the facts, showing any deterioration in the pipe. If you do state 
what it is. Or, do you find it all right? 

A. Well, I pronounce that pipe all right, sir. 



182 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. Won't you show the Commission how this pipe is jointed together, 
how the sections are jointed together? 

A. Well, it is joined together with a patent joint that is known as the 
"Converse Patent Lock Joint." After the pipe has been taken from the 
bath I have described, this joint is then put on afterwards, and one end is 
leaded on the piece of pipe, that is, one joint on each piece. Then when it 
is taken into the field it is put in and turned and locked, and you see that 
makes it perfectly safe against any strain that may come on it in the way 
of the settling of the ground, it will not slip, or anything of that sort. It 
holds up against the shoulder on the inside and makes a perfectly flush 
joint, reducing friction, which is quite an item in water works engineering. 
After that, this is run full of lead, and then caulked ; it is then ready for 
the water. We have tested those joints I think up to 800 pounds pressure 
for natural gas purposes. It is the only joint which has been used success- 
fully up in Pennsylvania for natural gas. 

O. Now, how does this pipe compare with the cast-iron pipe for water 
purposes, in your opinion ? 

A. In what particular ? 

O. In any particular, referring to its advantages over cast iron, or its 
disadvantages, whatever they may be. How does it compare with cast iron, 
as a pipe for the distribution of water in a water system, and the reasons for 
your opinion, if you have any opinion upon it ? 

A. Well, our reason for introducing it was that it was better adapted for 
that purpose. In the first place, it is a pipe that will not corrode. If you are 
passing water through a pipe that will not corrode, you are getting nothing 
impure in the water from the fact of its passing through the pipe, the water 
is just as pure as when it was first introduced. If you have a pipe that is con- 
tinually being corroded, the corrosion from that pipe passes into the water, 
and the water becomes impregnated with it. Well, we know this pipe will 
not corrode, and consequently we can get a better quality of water. We 
can pass more water through the same size of pipe on account of its being- 
smoother on the inside. There is no danger of cracks or breaks in it, as 
you can flatten that down like a sheet of paper and still not fracture it. It 
is handled easier, made cheaper; and it has been used and introduced into 
the mountain districts of Colorado where it was impossible to take any 
other kind of pipe and lay up between the mountains there. It will stand a 
higher pressure than any other pipe which has been introduced for water 
works purposes. 

O. What is its cost compared with cast-iron ? 

A. Well, it is a little more expensive. It costs more to make it, in the 
first place, than cast-iron pipe ; it is better material. 

Q. (By Mr. Bennett.) How much more, approximately ? 

A. Oh, I should suppose, approximately — I suppose 20 per cent. 

Q. (By Mr. Goulding.) How much of this pipe are you making ? 

A. Well, we are — oh, we have it in — we are getting it out every day. 
We have about 2,000 miles of it in use now. We are running it out all the 
time. 

Q. What is your daily or annual outgo ? 

A. Well, it is not regular, sir. The contracts come in, sometimes you 



THE QUINCY CASE. 183 



may have two or three large contracts at one time, and other times we will 
have very little of it on hand ; it is not regular, like other articles. 

O. How large are your works, how many men do you employ ? 

A. We employ a little over 7,000 men — make all our own material. 

O. Where are your works located ? 

A. Located at McKeesport, Pennsylvania. 

O. (By Mr. Bennett.) In what part of Pennsylvania is that ? 

A. Well, that is the western part, sir ; it is about 15 miles southeast of 
Pittsburg, on the Monongahela River. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding.) These 2,000 miles you say you have in use, is 
that confined to water works ? 

A. Yes, sir ; pretty much all ; pretty much all for water works. Some 
has been used for oil, some for illuminating gas. It is a very good pipe for 
illuminating gas. 

O. You mean 2,000 miles you have in use for all purposes ? 

A. Oh, no ; of this particular kind of pipe. Oh, no ; I cannot tell how 
much. We make about 4S cars of iron pipe a day that goes out of our 
works, and make all the materials. That makes our product cover about 50 
carloads a day. 

O. This kind of pipe is only a portion of the pipe you make ? 

A. Oh, it is only a portion. I suppose we make 100 different kinds of 
pipe for different purposes. 

O. (By Mr. Robinson. ) All iron pipe? 

A. All wrought-iron pipe, yes, sir ; wrought-iron aud steel. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding.) Do you make any other kind of pipe for water 
distribution ? 

A. No. There is no other kind, this is all. 

Cross-Examination. 

O (By Mr. Morse.) Mr. Riley, I understand you to say that your cor- 
poration began the manufacture of this kind or pipe in 1882 ? 

A. Yes, sir ; along about that time. 

O. And that the first of the pipe laid was at a place in Colorado, which 
you mentioned ? 

A. Yes, sir, 

O. Do you remember whether after that any other pipe was laid before 
the Ouincy pipe, any of this Kalamein pipe? 

A. Yes, sir ; I think we put in works at Fair Play, Colorado, and 
Buena Vista, Colorado ; I think they were both put in prior to these pipes. 

O. What was the special reason which led to that pipe being used in 
Colorado, if there was any ? 

A. On account of the alkali soil ; they were obliged to lay the pipe 
through the alkali in the soil. 

O. Had it anything to do with the cost of the transportation ? 

A. Oh, yes, the freight was less ; that is, it is lighter. We would put 
more pipe on a car of this kind, than you would of cast-iron, that is more 
miles, more feet, you might say, and the risk is less. 

Q. What was the pipe called at its first introduction ? 

A. What was it called ? 

O. Yes. 



184 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. It was called Kalamein pipe, fitted with Converse L,ock Joint; that 
was the way it was known in the trade. 

O. Was it ever called metaline ? 

A. Not that I know of; no, sir. 

O. Was it a patent pipe ? 

A. The process was patented ; yes, sir ; the alloy is patented, produced 
in England. 

O. Has a patent been taken out in this country on it ? 

A. Oh, yes ; we have the exclusive right to it. 

O. In whose name ? 

A. National Tube Works Company. 

O. When was that taken out ? 

A. That was taken, I think, in 1881, in 1880 or 1881. I am not sure 
about the name. It may have been taken out in the name of Mr. E. C. 
Converse. Mr. French could inform you probably better about that. 

O. But it was taken out for the benefit of the Tube Works Company ? 

A. Yes, sir, for our benefit. 

O. Was the pipe ever known as Silvertin pipe ? 

A. I was just going to say I had heard it called Silvertin. 

O. What is the process as described in the patent ? 

A. Well, the alloy, it was a secret to ourselves, the mixture is. 

Q. I thought you said it was covered by a patent ? 

A. So it is, yes, sir. 

O. What does the patent cover? 

A. It covers the alloy. 

O. Very well, the patent cannot be secret? 

A. The proportions are, sir. 

O. Whatever is described in a patent is public, of course ? 

A. Sir? 

O. I say whatever is described in a patent is public and not secret? 

A. Oh, yes, but not the proportions. 

O. Just state to me what the patent describes , if you have a copy of it ? 

A. I have not a copy of it here ; no, sir, I could not describe it. 

O. Can you state in substance what it is? 

A. I don't know as I could, that is, just as the patent reads. 

O. Can't you state it substantially ? 

A. No, sir, I don't think I could. 

O. Can you give me the number of the patent or the date of it ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. And you are not sure about the person whose name it is taken out 
in? 

A. No, sir. It was taken out for the benefit of the National Tube 

Works. It may have been taken out in Mr. Converse's name, who was one 
of the officers of the company. 

O. And you say that patent does not describe the component parts or 
proportions of the alloy ? 

A. I said I didn't think it did, I said that the proportions were secret 
to ourselves. 

O. Very well. Who invented that proportion ? 



THE OJJINCY CASE. 185 



A. It was invented in England, sir ; we brought an expert over here to 
introduce it for us. 

O. When did he come over ? 

A. He came over along about 1881, I think, at the time we took out the 
patent. 

O. Doesn't lead form the largest part of the alloy ? 

A. No, sir ; it forms one of the parts but not the largest part. 

O. Are you willing to state what the different elements are in the 
alloy ? 

A. No, sir, I don't care about stating. 

O. I won't ask you to if you object to it. This alloy has been analyzed 
has it not ? 

A. Oh, yes, sir. 

Q. Have you any objection to stating what has been published as 
the 

A. I don't think it has been published, I don't know, it may have been, 
but not to my knowledge. 

O. Do you object to stating the different parts in it as well as to stating 
the proportions ? 

A. Well, the principal parts are zinc, lead and tin, the principal metals 
which form this alloy. 

O. Is there any nickel in it ? 

A. No, sir, I don't think there is. 

O. Any antimony ? 

A. A little. 

O. I understand you to say that the process in general is in heating the 
iron, after the pipe has been formed, to an intense heat and then soaking it 
in this alloy ? 

A. No, I don't think I explained it that way, sir. I said we heated the 
alloy, and put the pipe into it and allowed it to remain there until it became 
the same temperature as the alloy. 

O. And you spoke about the alloy penetrating the pores of the iron ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, are there pores in wrought-iron ? 

A. Oh, yes, sir. 

Q. Is that a correct expression, to speak of pores in wrought-iron ? 

A. Well, it is a common term used among iron manufacturers. 

Q. Isn't wrought-iron laminated ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Isn't it in layers ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Don't you speak of pores more correctly as applied to cast-iron ? 

A. Well, some may call it grain, some call it a fibre, some call it a 
pore. 

Q. Take that largest pipe before you, if you please, what is the actual 
thickness of the metal in that largest pipe ? 

A. It has been burred up, so it may appear thicker than what it actu- 
ally is. 

Mr. Robinson : And it is cut on a bevel. 



186 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The Witness: Yes; it is misleading ; it looks thicker. That pipe is 
No. 8 gauge. 

Q. What does that mean ? 

A. No. 8 Birmingham wire gauge. 

O. What is the actual thickness of the metal there ? 

A. There is no figure giving the size of a Birmingham wire gauge. 

O. Can't you tell me how thick that is through, about how thick ? 

A. Well, that is about three-sixteenths of an inch, about that. This is 
the Birmingham gauge ; all the pipe is made from gauges. 

O. What is the diameter of the pipe ? 

A. I think it is 12 inches, sir. 

O. And is that thickness, three-sixteenths, or whatever it may be, the 
same thickness that it was when the pipe was first made, or is it different ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It is the same ? 

A. Yes, sir ; it is all there. 

O. To what extent in your judgment has this coating, this alloy, pene- 
trated the surface of that metal ? 

A. Well, it would be pretty hard to measure that, sir. 

O. What is your judgment about it ? 

A. Well, you might — it is pretty hard to tell. 

O. Would a section of that cut off show it ? 

A. It would under a powerful glass, I should judge ; not by the naked 
eye. 

O. Have you examined any of your pipe to see ? 

A. I have never examined it any more than the same as I have exam- 
ined these here to-day. 

O. Then you have never tried a powerful glass upon it ? 

A. No, sir ; but I judge that would be the way to determine it. 

O. If you wanted to find out just exactly how far in a given piece of 
pipe this alloy went, that would be the proper way of testing it, I suppose ? 

A. Yes, if I was interested that way, but I think if you make a surface 
examination it would satisfy. 

O. But isn't that a very important examination to make? 

A. I don't think it is, sir. You can take galvanized pipe and take an in- 
strument the same as I have used here this morning, and you can flake it 
right off. 

O. I understand you to claim it as one of the great merits of this pro- 
cess, that it is not merely a coating that can not be broken and knocked off, 
but it is something which penetrates the material itself? 

A. Yes, sir, it does. 

Q. Then the extent to which it penetrates is a matter of some import- 
ance, isn't it ? 

A. I don't think so. 

O. At all events you have never tested it in any other way than you 
have stated ? 

A. No, sir, I never have. 

Q. Did I understand you to say that after the pipe had been dipped in 
this bath of alloy that then it was covered with asphaltum ? 

A. Yes, sir. 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 187 



Q. How is that applied ? 

A. That is put on hot, sir. 

Q. What is the object of that ? 

A. Well, it is another protection in addition to the Kalamein. 

O. A protection against what ? 

A. Well, against corrosion or the soils. 

Q. Is it put on to prevent the Kalamein from being knocked or washed 
off? 

A. Oh, no, sir. 

O. Or taken off? 

A. No, sir, not at all. 

Q. Have you always put that on ? 

A. We have ; yes, sir. Not with the first ; I think the first two works 
we put in we didn't use this. 

O. That is the Colorado place ? 

A. Yes, sir, the Salida Works. 

O. Was the Ouincy place the first in which the asphaltum preparation 
was used? 

A. Now, I couldn't say. I was travelling about the country a good 
deal at that time and there are pipe sometimes shipped away I don't know 
about. 

O. Do you know whether it was used on all the pipe which were laid 
in Ouincy, or not ? 

A. No, I don't ; I don't know whether it was. It kind of runs in my 
mind that it was not. I think the first pipe shipped there was coated this 
way, but I am not sure ; that is my impression. I suppose Mr. Hall could 
tell you about that. 

O. Why do you use the asphaltum now ? 

A. Well, we use it as another protection. 

O. Do I understand you to say that this alloy is a complete protection 
against rust ? 

A. Well, it is, as far as it is practical to do anything in the way of 
manufacturing pipe. 

O. What chances are there that it may not be complete? 

A. Oh, there may be some things arise — some unforeseen thing in the 
soil or water. We have never found it, but we do that as a matter of better 
protection. 

Q. Is this coating with asphaltum any part of the secret process ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Was that adopted at your works of your own notion, or at the 
suggestion of someone else outside? 

A. We used that prior to introducing the Kalamein. 

O. Was it suggested to you with reference to any of this Ouincy pipe ? 

A. Oh, no, sir ; I don't think it was. 

O. Is the asphaltum liable to come off? 

A. Yes, sir, it is liable to come off 

O. What would be likely to take it off? 

A. Well, it can be beaten off with an instrument, with a hammer, or it 
may be rubbed off. 

O. When the pipe is lying on the ground is it liable to come off? 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Well, no, sir, it is not liable to coine off. It will come off, but it is 
reckoned a very good protection. 

O. It comes off of cast-iron pipe, doesn't it ? 

A. Well, when it comes off of a pipe that the rust has created under- 
neath it, it brings rust and coating all off with it ; it flakes off, shells off. 

O. But if it protects against the rust, how can it rust? 

A. Well, the rust, when the rust is created before it is painted or 
dipped, I don't know what process they use, or whether they brush it on. 

Q. If it does come off, of course that leaves the pipe liable to the 
dangers you intend to prevent by the use of the asphaltum ? 

A. What is that, sir ? 

O. I say, if the asphaltum should come off, then the pipe is left liable 
to be injured by the causes which you endeavored to prevent by the use of 
the asphaltum ? 

A. You mean cast-iron pipe ? 

O. Any pipe, this pipe. 

A. Well, if it is nothing but asphaltum there and the asphaltum came 
off, of course it is ready then to corrode. 

O. Do I understand, Mr. Riley, you do not feel sufficient confidence in 
the sufficiency of this alloy to leave the pipe with the coating alone, so you 
put the asphaltum over it ? 

A. Well, we feel sure enough to have laid a great many miles of it, 
and it has proved very satisfactory. 

O. Without the asphaltum ? 

A. Without the asphaltum ; very satisfactory indeed, sir. 

O. That was in the very beginning, wasn't it? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. You haven't for the last ten years laid any, have you, without the 
asphaltum coating ? 

A. No, sir, no ; it is another protective agent. 

Q. When did you first undertake to introduce this pipe, or when did 
the National Tube Works first undertake to introduce it, in New England ? 

A. Well, I couldn't say. Mr. French, who has charge of that business 
here, probably could answer that question for you. 

Q. Did you have any agent or representative in New England ? 

A. Our people have an office here ; yes, sir. 

Q. Who was your representative in New England? 

A. Mr. French is the representative here, that is, in what we call our 
sales department. 

O. I am not referring to the present condition, but I mean before 
the introduction of the water pipes into Quincy, who was your representa- 
tive here ? 

A. Do you mean the special agent for this pipe ? 

O. Yes. 

A. I don't know they had any. 

O. Was Mr. McClallan ? 

A. He may have been ; not to my knowledge, though. 

O. Don't you know he was ? 

A. I know of Mr. McClallan ; I never met him, sir. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 189 



O. Did you not know that Mr. McClallan advertised as the New 
England agent of the National Tube Works ? 

A. Not that I know of ; not to my knowledge. He may have done so. 

O. You never saw the letter heads ? 

A. I never did ; no sir. I know he was connected with these works— 
that is, by hearsay. I heard of Mr. McClallan being the engineer that put 
the works into Ouinc}^. 

Q. Do you know of his having any connection with the National Tube 
Works ? 

A. Not that I know of ; no, sir ; any more than any purchaser of our 
goods. 

Q. Do you remember whether the Tube Works did have any business 
office in 1883 in Boston ? 

A. A business office ; the National Tube Works Company ? 

O. Yes. 

A. I think so ; yes, sir. Their main office is here, sir. The first 
works was built here in one of your suburbs over across the river — East 
Boston, I think. 

O. Didn't they have somebody especially representing them on this 
pipe for New England ? 

A. Not that I know of, sir ; not to my knowledge. 

Q. To go back for one moment to your measurement ; when you 
gave that diameter of 12 inches, was that the inside or outside measure- 
ment ? 

A. Outside, sir ; outside diameter. 

O. And when you speak of 12-inch pipe, you mean the outside ? 

A. We mean outside on this pipe ; yes, sir. 

O. In speaking of cast-iron pipe— a 12-inch cast-iron pipe— you mean 
the inside, wouldn't you ? 

A. Yes, they do measure from the inside. 

O. So that a 12-inch pipe — a wrought-iron pipe like this — will not 
deliver as much water as a 12-inch cast-iron pipe ? 

A. It will deliver a great deal more, sir. 

O. You refer now to the effect of the coating ? 

A. No, sir ; I mean the smooth surface of the material. 

Q. Very well, the smooth surface ; but the actual interior diameter is 
less, of course? 

A. Yes, sir, it is less ; oh, yes. 

Q. Suppose that a new cast-iron pipe is coated with asphaltum, it is as 
smooth, is it not, as one of these pipes coated with asphaltum ? 

A. No, sir ; it has the impression of the sand core on the inside ; a 
rough sanded wall, or something of that kind. 

Q. That is scraped, isn't it? 

A. Not on the inside ; they have never introduced that anywhere that 
I have heard of. 

O. Has this pipe been used anywhere else in New England except in 
Ouincy ? 

A. No, I couldn't answer that, sir. 

Q. Or anywhere in the East, in New York or Pennsylvania, for water 
pipe ? 



190 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. It lias been used in several places in New York, I can't just recall ; 
it was quite a little while ago. 

O. Have you sought to introduce it in New England ? 

A. Well, the same as we introduce any of our goods, we are ready. 

O. How can you account for the fact, Mr. Riley, that if some of this 
was laid in 1883 in Quincy, and you have been manufacturing it since, none 
of it has been used in New England since that time ? 

A. Well, I couldn't say, sir, unless it is too high in price for people 
here. 

O. How much difference is there in price ? 

A. About 20 per cent., I think, or 30 ; probably Mr. French will be 
able to tell you that better, his business is in that line more. I don't know 
the price of cast-iron pipe here to-day. 

O. Wasn't cast-iron pipe worth more four or five years ago than 
wrought-iron pipe ? 

A. No, sir ; not that I know of. 

O. Foot for foot, wasn't it worth more ? 

A. Oh, no ; I don't think so. I don't think they would have ever laid 
a joint of it around our country if we hadn't been all the time fighting with 
them. 

O. In 1883, wasn't cast-iron pipe costing more than wrought-iron? 

A. No, sir. That has been our strongest competitor in the trade. 

O. Wasn't it costing more than this pipe at that time ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Do you feel sure about that ? 

A. I feel sure, unless there was some special price made for this pipe, 
or some arrangement made to introduce it. We have done that ; we have 
put this pipe in at cost, I think, in one or two instances, to introduce it. 

O. I infer from what you say that there is a gentleman here who will 
give us the actual cost of this pipe ? 

A. Yes, sir ; Mr. French will tell about that. 

Mr. Morse : Very well. I shan't trouble you about that then. That 
is all I care to ask. 

O. (By Judge Bennett.) Was there any circumstance or occasion 
which led to your using asphaltum after having used the pipe more or less 
without the asphaltum ? 

A. We haven't heard of any. There was none of it destroyed, it was 
all in good preservation when we introduced that. 

O. It was not put on, then, from any complaint ? 

A. No, sir ; not from any complaint. 

Q. (By Mr. Gonlding.) Any suggestion that it would sell better if it 
was a darker color ? 

A. Well, I don't know as it had any effect on the sale of it, the appear- 
ance of it. 

Peter W. French, Sworn. 

O. (By Mr. Gonlding.) Your full name, Mr. French? 

A. Peter W. 

Q. What is your business ? 

A. vSecretary of the National Tube Works Company. 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 191 



O. Do you live in Boston ? 

A. I live in Weymouth. 

O. Have an office in Boston ? 

A. Yes, sir, 70 Federal street. 

O. Do you know how much of this pipe is manufactured by the com- 
pany for water works ? 

A. You mean the Kalamein pipe ? 

O. Kalamein pipe for water works companies ? 

A. I should say between two and three thousand miles. 

Q. Between two and three thousand miles in all ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O, Do you know how much is produced a year of it ? 

A. No, I couldn't tell ; we make 600 tons every 24 hours of all kinds 
of pipe and tubes, and I couldn't tell. 

Q. What is the cost of this pipe compared with cast-iron pipe ? 

A. I should say it cost about 20 per cent, more than cast iron pipe. 
Of course, sometimes there might not be so much difference as that, and 
now cast iron is very cheap. 

O. Did you sell personally this pipe to the Ouincy company originally? 

A. No, sir. Our General Manager now, Mr. Converse, sold it, I think. 
Mr. E. C. Converse. He is the General Manager now, and he had at that 
time charge of the Sales Department. I think he sold the pipe to Mr. 
Howland, who made the contract for McClallan. 

Q. I don't know that you know practically about the mechanical part 
of the making of this pipe ? 

A. No, sir, I do not. I know how it is made, that is the pipe, but about 
the coating, I don't know how it is put on exactly. 

O. What does it cost actually, what are the prices of it ? 

A. We have a list price, and give a discount on the list. 

Mr. Morse : You mean the present price ? 

O. The price last year, April ? 

A. Yes, sir ; if I have got a list here I can tell you. What size do you 
mean, any size in particular? 

O. I mean the sizes as are used there, from 12 to 4 inches ? 

A. Four-inch pipe on the list is 85 cents a foot ; 5-inch, $r. 10 ; 6-inch, 
$ J -35 ; 7- ni ch, $1.75 ; 8-inch, $2 ; 10-inch, $2.90 ; 12-inch, $3.75 ; 14-inch, $5 
a foot — 60 per cent discount off. They sell iron pipe 75 off now, regidar 
iron pipe. I have known them to sell iron fittings at 80.2. 

O. Do you know where it is used now, actually used, this Kalamein 
pipe, for water works ? 

A. I guess there must be two or three hundred places ; we can give 
you the names, if you want them, of the whole of them. 

O. Where are they situated ? 

A. All through the country, of course, more west than east, because in 
the West we get the benefit from the freight. In the East we can't compete 
with the cast-iron on account of the price of cast-iron being so low, but in 
the West, we get in there, for one reason, on account of the freight, lighter 
pipe. 

O. Is it used in any other place in the East except Ouincy ? 

A. Oh, yes. There are some down at Swampscott, I think, some at 



192 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Sharon, and I think there is some up in Chicopee. But most of it has been 
large contracts in the West ; and, of course in Pennsylvania we have sold 
considerable. 

Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Morse. ) Was this pipe bought of you, this Ouincy pipe ? 

A. No, sir, I think not. 

Q. Was it bought through the office here in Boston ? 

A. I couldn't say, sure ; I think Mr. Converse might have come on. I 
think Mr. Rowland made the trade with Mr. Converse for the pipe if I rec- 
ollect right. 

O. Doesn't the sale appear on your books in Boston ? 

A. It was charged up here, yes, sir. 

O. Have you a transcript of that account ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Can you furnish it ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Will you do so ? 

A. If you want it, if there is no objection. 

O. We should like it. Will you furnish it to us ? 

A. I don't want to give oue side any more benefit than the other. 

Mr. Morse : I thought you were looking at the Governor, and the 
Governor seemed unwilling to indicate what he would let you do. 

Mr. Robinson : Perhaps I am minding my own business. 

O. Is there any objection, Mr. French, to furnishing that? 

A. I don't think there is. 

O. Then I will ask you to have made up a copy of that account, if you 
please, sir, if there is any expense we shall be very glad to pay it, a copy of 
the account between the National Tube Works and Mr. McClallan, showing 
all the pipe that was bought by him for use in Ouincy, and giving the full 
price and all the discounts ? 

A. I don't know whether I can or not ; I don't know where our books 
are. I can't say whether we can go into the whole detail or not. We can 
give the ledger account, I don't know whether we can give the shipments 
from the mill ; those come on sketches, on sheets of paper, and then we bill 
them right from there. I don't know whether we have got them as far back 
as that. 

Q. I won't ask you to do anything at present except what your books 
here show, if you will please to furnish that? 

A. I think I can find the ledger, where the ledger charge is ; I don't 
know whether I can find the detailed account. 

Q. Have you looked up with reference to this trial any memorandum 
or books with regard to the quantity of pipe or the prices ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. You haven't been asked to do that before with reference to this 
hearing? 

A. I think Mr. Howland wrote to Mr. Converse to give him some 
statements, and I think he gave them to him ; I don't know. 

Q. I mean you have not been asked by the gentlemen on the other 
side for anything of the sort ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 193 



A. No, sir. 

O. You are not able to state now, then anything with regard to what 
the prices were which were paid ? 

A. At that time ? 

Q. Yes ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Or the amount of the discount ? 

A. Well, I think, I wouldn't say sure, I think the prices were made 
net prices per foot, without discount ; we have sold that way, and sometimes 
with a discount. 

O. Was Mr. McClallan at that time the agent of the National Tube 
Works ? 

A. I didn't know he was. 

O. Didn't you know he advertised as such ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not. 

O. Didn't you know he advertised as their representative with refer- 
ence to this very pipe ? 

A. I didn't know it. I know if anybody had come in and wanted to 
buy pipe I should have sold it to them. 

O. 1 don't ask whether he had any exclusive agency, but whether he 
didn't have some relation to the National Tube Works ? 

A. A relation as a customer, that is all I know. 

O. Didn't he have some understanding with them about commissions ? 

A. Not that I know of. 

O. Or any compensation ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Did you not know in fact that his letter heads indicated that ? 

A. I did not. 

Q. These places you have mentioned, aside from Ouincy, in which 
these pipes were laid, Swampscott, Sharon and Chicopee, are all places in 
which Mr. McClallan laid the pipe, are they not ? 

A. I don't know. 

O. Didn't you sell the pipe in all instances to Mr. McClallan, or to 
companies he represented ? 

A. I couldn't say. I think we furnished some for Lynn, I am not sure, 
I couldn't say. 

O. Can you now recall any contractor who used these pipes in New 
England except Mr. McClallan ? 

A. I think we sold some to the city of Lynn. 

O. Do you remember when ? 

A. Well, I guess it was after the Ouincy ; two or three years, I should 
say, after the Quincy ; I can't say sure. 

O. Had Mr. McClallan anything to do with that ? 

A. No, I don't think he did. Then we have sold some around for 
different purposes, not for water works exactly, but for parties, private 
parties, corporations, etc., that have used it. 

O. How did the price of these pipes, as )'OU were selling them in 1883, 
compare with the price of cast-iron pipes in the market ? 

A. Well, I don't think there was a great deal of difference. 
O. The difference was in favor of these pipes, was it not ? 



194 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. I think not ; I guess there wasn't much difference, for I think it 
was the next year Mr. McClallan put in works, I think, in Weymouth, and 
we couldn't sell him pipe because he could buy cast-iron cheaper. We tried 
our best to do it, but we couldn't get it down. 

Q. Isn't it your recollection that there was a time when it cost less to 
lay these pipes than to lay the others ? 

A. Oh, yes ; you can lay them a good deal cheaper than the others. 

O. When I use the term laying, I mean taking the cost of the pipes 
themselves and the cost of the laying ; wasn't there a saving in expense in 
laying these pipes rather than in laying cast-iron pipes ? 

A. I don't think there was much difference ever, but for the last six or 
eight years it has cost a great deal more to lay wrought-iron. 

Q. Were you selling cast-iron pipes at all ? 

A. No, sir ; not to any amount ; we make nothing but wrought-iron 
pipe and boiler tubes. 

O. Do you know what the price of cast-iron pipes was in the market in 
1883 ? 

A. No, sir ; I do not. 

O. Do you think you can make a comparison yourself between the 
market prices in 1883 of cast-iron pipe and this pipe ? 

A. I could not without investigating. 

O. Did you ever see a letter-head of Mr. McClaKan of the kind which 
I show you ? 

A. (Paper handed witness.) I don't remember it. I don't think he 
had any authority for that so far as I know. 

O. Do you recognize any part of the letter-head as having been seen 
by you before ? 

A. No. 

O. Didn't you ever see any advertisement in any form of Mr. McClallan 
like this: " W. C. McClallan, Contractor for Water and Gas Works. 
Eastern Selling Agent for the National Tube Works Company's indestruc- 
tible, seamless, wrought-iron pipe for water and gas mains." 

A. I don't remember of ever seeing that until now. I don't remember 
ever seeing it before. 

O Doesn't it strike you as something rather extraordinary that Mr. 
McClallan should be advertising as the eastern agent for the National Tube 
Works Co., and you not know it ? 

A. I should say it was ; I don't think he had any authority for it. 

O. You never heard of it before ? 

A. No, sir. 

Mr. Morse : I should like to have this marked for identification. I do 
not offer it now with reference to the contents of the letter at all ; simply 
the heading. 

Mr. Robinson : It is not in at present, Mr. Morse. 

Mr. Morse : No, not put in ; simply marked for identification. 

71ie Witness: You spoke about the different places where we have 
put in our pipe for water works. I can give you about 200 from this book. 

Q. Have you the dates when they were put in ? 

A. No, sir ; I can get them for you. 

O. Can you state any places in which the pipes were laid in 1883 or 
1884? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 195 



A, I cannot from this book here, but I can get that for you if you 
want it. 

O. I had rather take it in that form, and if when you send up the copy 
of the account you would send a memorandum in years of the places in 
which the pipes were laid, we would like it. 

A. The whole number of them ? 

O. We would like the whole story, yes ; and could you add the prices 
at which the pipes were sold in those places ? 

A. I guess you would have to adjourn over for about six months. 
There are 200 places here. 

O. Do you remember where there was any special discount on these 
pipes for Ouincy ? 

A. I guess we gave them a pretty low price. 

O. Anything more than the regular 60 per cent, discount ? 

A. I think it was a little better than 60, I don't know, I haven't 
figured it, I don't know. 

O. Do you remember the price at which you sold this pipe to other 
parties in 1883? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Have you any schedule which you can refer to ? 

A. I don't know whether we have or not. 

O. Have you anything on your books to indicate ? 

A. If I can find those books that have got the Ouincy company it will 
tell. 

Q. Will you be kind enough when you look up your books, to look not 
simply at the prices at which you sold for the Ouincy Company, but for 
other places at that time ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding. ) As to this price list, whether that is the com- 
mon way with manufacturers of pipes and machinery and various things, to 
have a price list which they strike off from ? 

A. We have one price for our boiler tubes, different kinds, and they 
are sold so much a foot. 

O. Whether it is a common way of doing with all dealers ? 

A. Yes ; there is one standard list in the United States for all regular 
sizes pipes and boiler tubes. Of course, nobody else makes these, but we 
have a list of our own. 

O. Whether it is a common way with all mauufactvirers to have a price 
list which is subject to discount ? 

A. Every standard manufacturer in the United States, they all have 
the same list ; yes, sir. 

Charges A. Allen, Resumed. 

O. ( By Mr. Goulding. ) Are you prepared to give an opinion as to 
the value of this plant of the Ouincy Water Company in April, 1892 ? 

A. I am. 

O. I will ask you what your opinion is ? 

A. My opinion is that the plant in 1892 was worth $810,000. 

Q. Now you can give any reasons you see fit for the conclusions you 
come to as to its value, in your own way, if there is no objection. 



196 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. * * * Xhe next item is the piping system, and in the item of the 
piping system the first amount I give is simply for the piping itself, that is, 
it does not include the valves, it does not include the hydrants, but it does 
include, of course, the special castings or the specials that are necessary ; 
and that I estimate at 1158,662.24. 

Q. (By Judge Bennett.) What do you say the $ 25,000 includes ? 

A. That includes interest. 

O. Interest on what ? 

A. On the cost of the plant — that is, the dam and the pumping station 
and piping, etc. 

O. (By Mr. Morse.) Interest on the 1328,000, I take it. 

A. Yes, interest on the $328,000. It also includes a contribution to 
the sinking fund of $800 a year, which would be necessary to renew the 
plant. It amounts to about 66 years, but in taking the items I have taken 
the life of the different things at different periods and put them all together. 
For instance, the life of the boilers would be comparatively short. The life 
of the piping system would, in my judgment, cover a good many years, and 
it is regulated in that way ; but the sum which would have to be set aside 
annually to meet that would be $800. 

Cross-Examination. 

A. I estimate the pipe on what it would cost to replace the pipe with 
cast-iron, because that is the cheapest material, and, of course, it is per- 
fectly good material ; that we have in this vicinity. 

O. (By Mr. Morse.) How much depreciation should you say there 
was, in fact, from a new plant ; in the condition in which this was in 
1892? 

A. There ought not to be any appreciable depreciation in the piping, 
for instance ; I refer now to the main piping. 

O. Pipes that have been laid eight years ? 

A. Pipes that have been laid eight years. There would be some 
depreciation in the boilers, for instance ; there would be some 

O. What do you mean by " appreciable " depreciation ? 

A. Well, in my judgment this pipe zvill last without renewal — that is, 
I am speaking now on the supposition, of course, that none would have to 
be taken up because they were too small, or anything of that kind ; I mean 
if they are large enough for the purpose, and would deliver water enough, 
they ought to last, probably, in the vicinity of 70 years, I should say. It is 
hard to place the life, but they would last a great many years. 

O. Even on that basis, eight years is an appreciable part of the 
seventy ? 

A. Yes, but I meant it is a very small amount, and I have allowed that 
in the $8,000 which I have credited. 

Q. I understood you to say that the $158,000 represents the cost of 
new piping at that time ? 

A. It does, but later on, when I make up my whole sum, I take out 
$8,000. 

O. I am confining you for the present to the $328,000, so we will take 
out the $8,000 now, if you please, from that. Does the $8,000 include more 
than the depreciation on the piping ? 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 197 



A. Yes. 

O. What does it include ? 

A. It includes depreciation— I can give you the list right here, if you 
will pardon me a moment. 

O. If you please. 

A. It includes depreciation on certain items connected with the reser- 
voir dam, for instance, which I will give you. 

O. Give them, if you please. 

A. It includes depreciation on the gates. 

O. Give each item as you have it there. 

A. Yes, one 6-inch gate, one 12-inch gate and one 20-inch gate, or 
rather three 20-inch gates, and on the gate-house and its appurtenances 

O. Have you carried out items, the allowance, against each one of 
those ? 

A. No, not in detail. For instance, the gates would last say 60 years, 
and some things would last 40 years, and so on. 

O. Give it in your own way, just as you have it there. 

A. And the bridge at the gate-house, and the waste-way. Those are 
the items at the dam that I thought would have to be renewed at some time 
possibly. Then at the pumping station there are the buildings and the 
boilers and the pumps, the engines, the foundations and connections, and 
the pump-wells at the pumping stations and the standpipe. And then, with 
the pipe line, there was all of the pipe, the service pipe and the service 
boxes, and the valves, hydrants and gate boxes. 

O. All those are items which you think will have to be renewed ? 

A. Yes. And those amount in round numbers to about $250,000, the 
items which would have to be renewed. Now, for instance, the gates, I 
should say, would last 60 years, and the bridge at the gate-house, the waste- 
way and the gate-house itself with its appurtenances, perhaps 40 years, and 
the pumping station 40 years, boilers 15 years, pumps and engines 40 years, 
foundations under the engines and the connections 40 years, and the piping 
I have set at 75 years. 

O. And you mean for those years to run from 1892, do you, or 1884? 

A. They run from 1884, but I have made an allowance, that is, it was 
taken from 8 years previous to the time of taking, which would be in 1884. 
Now, in taking the works I have said that the Company should allow you a 
sum equal to what that contribution would be for eight years in order to 
bring it up to the time that you took the works, and then from then on of 
course you would have to contribute about $1,000 a year, taking on that and 
on what would have to be put in in the future. 

Charges A. Ai^en resumed. 

Q. {By Mr. Morse. ) Mr. Allen, you were about stating the items mak- 
ing up your estimate of the cost of the piping system. Will you proceed 
with those ? 

A. I will. 2,679 feet of 20-inch pipe $8,974.65. 

O. Is this wrought-iron pipe you are estimating on ? 

A. As I stated in the opening, all these estimates are based on the price 
of cast-iron pipe, what it would cost to replace the plant with cast-iron in 
my judgment. 



198 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. How much per foot is that ? 

A. I have not figured it that way for this reason, that I have figured in 
the rock and all the items of that kind in each street where it was given to 
me. I did not figure by the foot, I simply figured the different items by 
yards, and so forth. It is a simple matter to reduce it, but I don't have it. 

O. Give the items as you have them here ? 

A. I have it here, 2,679 f eet of 20-inch pipe, $8,974.65 ; 5,582 feet of 16- 
inch pipe, $13,955 ; 16,422 feet of 12-inch pipe, $27,096.30 ; 6,879 f eet °f IO " 
inch pipe, $10,261.66 ; 18,040 feet of 8-inch pipe, $23,493.30 : 994 feet of 7. 
inch pipe, $894.60 ; 42,038 feet of 6-inch pipe, $38,276 45 ; 948 feet of 5-inch 
pipe, $688.65 ; 64,689 feet of 4-inch pipe, $35,578.95 ; 26,846 feet of 2-inch 
pipe for which one-fourth value is allowed. That gives a total of $161,417.66. 
And from that I take $2,755.42, as being the value of pipe that would be 
taken up in making some reinforcement, which leaves a net value of $158,- 
662.24. 

O. Won't you give now the items of the other estimates that you have 
figured — oh, what are the weights of these different pipe, the weight per foot - 

A. I haven't them here, but they were all heavy weights. 

Q. What do you mean by heavy weights ? 

A. I mean that they were pipe that would be suitable to withstand a 
pressure of from 250 — about 250 pounds to the inch ; because I never in my 
practice put in light weight pipes any way. I always put in heavy weight 
pipe. 

Q. Did you include 4-inch pipe in your estimate there ? 

A. Yes. 

O. Are those approved by engineers as proper pipe to lay ? 

A. It depends upon the location and what they are for. 

Q. Are they not generally condemned as a matter of water supply ? 

A. No, I don't think so. In my own practice I should not use a great 
amount of 4-inch pipe. 

O. Are they sufficient for fire service? 

A. Under a pressure of — I am speaking now in general terms — under 
a pressure of from 60 pounds upward — they would give from 1 to 2 fire 
streams ; it depends upon the circumstances. They are not as a general 
thing considered suitable to cover large areas with, large districts or any- 
thing of that kind. 

O. Can you get a pressure of 60 pounds and upwards on these pipes 
where they are laid ? 

A. You can if you get the head. The pressure is entirely dependent 
upon the head ; the effective pressure is dependent, of course, upon the fric- 
tion and all that sort of thing, governed by the length of pipe and so forth, 
and draughts from other directions. 

Q. Have you made any examination to see whether or not sufficient 
pressure can be obtained on those pipes as they are laid, so as to make 
them sufficient for hydrant service with the head they have? 

A. Well, they have all the head that they can get, as far as head goes, 
or static pressure. Of course there are some sections of pipe where no mat- 
ter what the size of the pipe would be you would not get much pressure. 

O. Taking these pipes as they were laid, was it proper judgment, in 
your opinion, to lay 4-in. pipes where they were laid ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 199 



A. Well, as I stated in the first place, I think there are some sections 
where they ought to be reinforced to give an efficient fire service, and that I 
have allowed. 

O. What sections have you in mind? 

A. Have you got that tracing, Mr. Hall ? 

O. If you can, describe by streets and by sections. 

A. Well, I wanted to refresh my memory by looking at this, Mr. 
Morse, that is all. Well, I notice what is marked here as the Wollaston dis- 
trict. I think there should be a larger main through Warren avenue to 
feed in from that direction, for one thing, and I think there should be a 
main on Newbury avenue, at what is marked Atlantic, a larger main ; and 
then, I think, that at Quincy Centre there should be a reinforcement from 
Elm street toward Chestnut. Then I don't think that the service on Wash- 
ington street down here would perhaps be what it ought to be without put- 
ting in other pipe. 

O. Ouincy Point ? 

A. Yes, Ouincy Point. But those things can be rectified at compara- 
tively small expense. 

O. Do you know how much there is of this 4-in. pipe in the whole 
city ? 

A. I have the amount given me here. 

O. What is the amount, if you have it there ? 

A. 64,689 feet. 

O. How many miles is that, or about how many ? 

A. Well, 12 miles, or something like that. 

O. Do you lay any 4-in. pipe yourself now in putting in your water 
systems in large towns ? 

A. Well, I should lay 4-in. pipe only in streets that were not — small, 
short streets that were not to dead ends. I think that is the more modern 
practice. I think it is the best practice. 

O. I n't a more modern practice still to lay no 4-in. pipe in large towns 
and cities ? 

A. Well, that is a matter of judgment, of course. The larger you get 
your pipe the better it is for everything. If you will allow me to illustrate. 
I built some works last year at North Brookfield for the Bachelder shoe fac- 
tory there — the largest shoe factory there is in the world. The works were 
built entirely for fire service, and I located and constructed a reservoir on a 
hill above the town, so they get 190 feet head in the centre of the town. I 
put in a 16-in. main, and the smallest pipe I have got in the town, although, 
of course, the supply pipes on the side streets have not been put in, around 
the centre of the town is 12 inches. Now, that was done because they wanted 
to be absolutely sure they could flood the factory with water. We can put 
on 20 fire streams in that mill if it is necessary. But that, of course, is a 
very exceptional case. I do not think there is any particular rule about the 
practice. 

O. Did I understand you to say, Mr. Allen, that you could express an 
opinion whether under the conditions under which this 4 "-pipe is laid you 
could get a pressure of 60 pounds and upwards ? 

A. Oh, I don't say that, because there are locations in the town where 
the elevation is so great you could not get 60 pounds any way. 



200 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. Then you could not get your one or two fire streams that you 
spoke of? 

A. No ; there are sections in the town where you could not under any 
circumstances get two fire streams. When I say fire streams I mean a 
stream that will discharge 200 gallons per minute. 

O. That is a small fire stream ? 

A. No, it is not a small fire stream, it is an ordinary fire stream, from 
200 to 250 gallons, but I say 200, because that is the limit I should go on that 
side. 

O. Have you ever used any of these Kalamein pipes? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. When did you first know of them ? 

A. Well, it is difficult to say when I first knew of them. The first that 
I have known of their being used in this vicinity was here at Ouincy. Of 
course I had heard of Kalamein pipe. 

O. Did you know about them at the time they were being laid ? 

A, No. 

O. You mean that since your attention has been called to this matter ? 

A. Yes. 

O. And that was last year or this year ? 

A. That was last July, I should say. 

O. Until that time had you ever seen any of these pipes ? 

A. I don't think I ever had, no, sir. 

O. Had you heard of them ? 

A. I had heard of them, just the same as I have heard of lots of pipe. 
Just when I had heard and under what circumstances I cannot now say. I 
had never seen them in use. 

O. Then they had not so far approved themselves down to 1892 as to 
have supplanted cast-iron pipe ? 

A. Oh, no, they have not supplanted cast-iron pipe. 

O. How can you account for the fact that you had been planning or 
constructing waterworks and had never heard of these Kalamein pipes until 
last summer, when your attention was calleu to this Ouincy system? 

A. Oh, I didn't say that, Mr. Morse. 

(Mr. Robinson.) He didn't say that. 

Q. Well, you never saw thern until then. 

A. Well, one reason, the probable reason, that is, it might be the 
probable reason why I didn't hear of them, is because the price is prohibitory. 

O. In the beginning the price was at least as low as cast-iron, wasn't 
it? 

A. Well, I cannot say as to that. In 1882, '83 and '84 cast-iron pipe 
was $35 and $36 a ton ; to-day you can buy the same pipe for $24 or $25 a 
ton. Whether there was any change in the price of Kalamein pipe in that 
time I do not know. I know it is a good deal higher now. 

O. Assuming that there was no difference in the cost of one pipe and 
the other, in view of what you know now about the price, should you lay 
these pipes in preference to cast-iron ? 

A. I don't think I should lay them in preference to cast-iron. No, sir. 

O. Why not ? 

A. Well, for the simple reason that I have not had experience with 



THE QUINCY CASE. 201 



them ; I should have to rely entirely on my own judgment in relation to 
them, based upon what I have learned in this case, what would look to me 
to be reasons after seeing the pipe laid. I should not want to say, I would 
not dare to say, I would use them in preference to cast-iron. 

O. So that- notwithstanding all the light you have got on this case, you 
would go on using cast-iron pipes if you were constructing a new system 
to-day ? 

A. Well, under ordinary circumstances I should. 

O. Even at a higher cost ? 

A. No, I don't say that ; you said at the same price. 

O. Well, supposing the cost was higher ? 

A. Of cast-iron ? 

O. Yes. 

A. Well, I don't think I should hesitate to use Kalamein pipe if 
common cast-iron were higher. 

O. Should you consider that there was a danger of the zinc and lead 
affecting the water ? 

A. Well, I don't know about that. I am not a chemist. I know that 
the action of water on pipe is entirely different in different localities, and so 
forth ; for instance, as I said in the opening examination to Mr. Goulding, 
a cast-iron pipe is not a perfect pipe by any means — not as perfect as we 
wish it were ; and there are some waters it is very difficult to keep the 
pipe free from corrosion. I don't know what the effect of different waters 
would be on this pipe ; I am not an expert in that line. I do not wish to 
testify in that way, because I don't know. 

O. No, but still your attention has been largely given to designing and 
constructing systems of water works? 

A. Yes. 

O. In which, of course, you have had occasion to consider all the 
different materials to be used ? 

A. Well, I have already told 3 ou about my experience with these 
pipes, Mr. Morse. 

O. Well, would you not say to-day that it is still experimental, the 
use of these pipes ? 

A. Well, I don't know as I would want to say that. It would be 
experimental as far as my own practice is concerned, my own judgment ; 
but I don't know as it can be considered experimental in the sense of being 
a new pipe ; in fact, I am very sure it is not. 

O. You are one of the gentlemen who went on to McKeesport to see 
the process of manufacture ? 

A. Yes, I did. 

Q. Did you satisfy yourself then, or have you at any time as to how 
far this alloy penetrates into the metal ? 

A. No, sir. We were told — the same statement was made to us 
there that was made here this morning, and I have taken sections of 
pipe and tried to scrape it off, and to file it off. I suppose I could file 
it off if I went deep enough, but it is evidently more than a veneering. 

O. You were not informed, of course, of the secret process? 

A. Not at all. We were simply told the base of the thing was tin 
instead of zinc ; that is all the explanation that was made. 



202 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. Have you any belief as to whether there is more tin than lead 
in it? 

A. No, sir, I have no idea about it ; I have never seen the alloy made ; 
do not know the first thing about it. We saw the pipe treated after the 
preparation had been melted in the bath, and so forth, but it was impossible 
to tell what it was made of. 



Boston, April 13, 1893. 

Marshai.Iv M. Tidd, Resumed. 
O. {By Mr. Morse.) Will you give me the items of that estimate ? 
O. {By Mr. Bennett.) Not including real estate ? 

A. Not including real estate. I didn't include it in any of my esti- 
mates, 

O. {By Mr. Robinson.) Or personal property? 

A. Or personal property at all. You want the details, the pipe line— 

Mr.. Morse : I want the details which make up that total of $336,583.45. 

The Chairman : Does that include engines and pumps ? 

Mr. JMorse : He is going to give that now. 

The Witness: 2,679 feet of 20-iuch pipe, 

laid, at $3 per foot $8,037 00 

5,582 feet of 16-inch pipe, at $2.10 11,722 20 

16,122 feet of 12-inch pipe, at $1.40 22,570 So 

6,879 f eet °f 10-inch pipe, at $1.10 7>566 90 

17,055 feet of 8-inch pipe, at 90 cents x 5!349 5° 

994 feet of 7-inch pipe, at 80 cents 795 20 

42,038 feet of 6-inch pipe, at 65 cents 27,324 70 

948 feet of 5-inch pipe, at 60 cents 568 80 

64,689 feet of 4 inch pipe, at 50 cents 32,344 50 

26,846 feet of 2-iuch pipe 10,738 40 

100 tons of special castings 

O. It was suggested to me that you didn't give the price per foot, but I 
suppose that is a matter of computation ? 
A. I thought I did. On which one ? 
O. The 2-iuch pipe. 

A. 26,846 feet of 2-inch pipe, at 40 cents $10,738 40 

100 tons of special castings at $60 6,000 00 

The whole amounting to $143,018 00 

O. That is the whole piping system ? 

A. That is the pipe line. 

O. Now, begin at the beginning and state to the Board just where you 
started, and give us all the steps which lead up to this result ? 

A. Well, just as I gave it to you yesterday. 

O. Very well. If necessary, repeat. 

A. The net income in 1892 was $21,100. 

O. Where did you get that from ? 

A. Got it from the compan3 T 's statement. I have no other means. I 
don't know any other means of getting at it. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 203 



O. I only wanted to know where you got it from ? 

A. Sinking fund forrenewal of works in 60 years, $1,772. 

O. Where did you get that from ? 

A. That would be the amount to be deposited. 

O. Why did you assume that sum ? 

A. Because that would be the sum which kept up at that, and com- 
pounded each six months would amount to that. 

O. Would amount to what ? 

A. To the valuation of the works. 

O. Where did you get the amount that is necessary for the renewal ? 

A. I estimate the works to be worth $560,000, or at least the cost of the 
works, I take the cost of the works for that, to renew them at that time. I 
put in here another item which I think by that time would be required, 
which is the improvement of the works, when they have to increase its ca- 
pacity, as the demand will grow upon it, which is $177,300. 

O. What items does that amount include, — the $177,300 ? 

A. I have it here. 

O. If you please ? 

A. That would' be for adding 5,850 feet of 16-inch pipe, at $2.10 

laid $12,285 00 

800 feet 14-inch pipe, at $1.70 1,360 00 

15,000 feet of 12-inch pipe, at $1.40 21,000 00 

9,500 feet of 10-inch pipe, at $1.10 10,450 00 

28,150 feet of 8-inch pipe, at 90 cents 25,325 00 

5,050 feet of 6-inch pipe, at 65 cents 3,282 50 

6 16-inch gates, at #75 450 00 

1 14-inch gate 55 00 

10 12-inch gates, at $45 450 00 

6 10-inch gates, at $32 192 00 

33 8-inch gates, at $21 693 00 

12 6-inch gates, at $15 180 00 

40 tons of specials at $60 2,400 00 

1,000 cubic yards of rock, at $4 4,000 00 

68 gate boxes, at $5 340 00 

Then I have put in an item to replace the 2-inch pipe with 
6-inch, 

26,846 feet of 6-inch pipe, at 65 cents I 7A49 9° 

93 6-inch gates, at $r5 i,395 00 

Standpipe on the third hill, for Wollaston, 50 x 60 feet 13,660 00 

Foundations for the same 2,500 00 

Cost of the dam No. 2, to make another reservoir on the north 

side of the present one 30,409 00 

Canal froiu the present reservoir to the last mentioned one, 

which I have called No. 2 6,275 00 

A total of $154,161 40 

15 percent, for contingencies 23,124 21 

Total cost $177,285 61 

O. Have you examined the system of distribution, Mr. Tidd ? 



204 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. On their plans I did. 

O. Well, you know the size of the pipes as they have laid them ? 

A. As they gave them to me, yes. 

O. Do you consider those sizes as they have laid them are suitable and 
proper sizes ? 

A. Well, some of them are smaller than I should like. 

O. Taking into account the character of that city and its population, 
do you think it was good judgment to lay 2-inch pipe as they did ? 

A. No, I do not want to say that I do. 

Q. Do you think it was good judgment to lay 4-inch pipe ? 

A. Well, that is a matter of opinion among engineers. 

O. What is your opinion about it ? 

A. I should rather have six. 

O. Do you think 4-inch pipe should have been laid ? 

A. There may have been some places where it might have been admis- 
sible, but I do not think so much of it ought to have been laid. 

O. Do you think any of it ought to have been laid ? 

A. Well, I would not like to say there is no place there where some of 
it might not have been used. 

O. Do you think any 4-iuch pipe should be laid in a town or city in a 
public street ? 

A. Well, it depends entirely. If I had two large mains running parallel 
with each other, I might use a 4-inch for cross connection. 

O. Would you use a 4-inch pipe anywhere in a public street ? 

A. Well, if I could have my choice I would not have anything less 
than 12-inch, which is a little absurd, perhaps. 

O. But confining yourself to 4-inch pipe, would you consider it a proper 
judicious or economical thing to do to lay 4-inch pipes in a city street? 

A. Well, I say if I had two large parallel mains, and a short street 
between the two, I don't know why a 4-inch pipe would not be admissible. 

O. Do you think there is any condition under which you would think 
it proper to lay 4-inch pipes ? 

A. Under such conditions as that, I might do it. 

O. Not what you might do, but whether as an engineer you would 
think it was fit and proper to lay a 4-inch pipe in a city street ? 

A. Yes. If I had two large mains running parallel with each other 
which were not more than four or five hundred feet apart, and the street 
between was to be furnished for domestic supply, I think it would be proper. 

O. Well, haven't you expressed the opinion that it is not wise ever to 
lay 4-inch pipes ? 

A. Well, I should rather have larger pipes. I think I have. I think I 
have even gone further than that and said I wished there was a law to forbid 
their use, and then there would be no argument as to whether it was proper 
or not. 

O. Haven't you taken the ground that 4-iuch pipe immediately deteri- 
orates ? 

A. Not that I know of. 

O. Haven't you taken the ground that if there is an)' 4-inch main laid 
in a public street it ought to be removed ? 

A. Well, it depends on the conditions. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 205 



O. No, but without reference to conditions? 
, A. I don't like to give an opinion without reference to conditions. 

O. Do you remember of testifying in a proceeding in Syracuse ? 

A. Yes. 

O. In reference to certain water property there? 

A. Yes. 

O. And your opinion being asked on the questiou of 4-inch pipe ? 

A. Yes, I remember it distinctly. 

O. Do you remember of saying this : " My experience has been pipe 
like that (that is, 4-inch pipe) is poor enough. I always object to its being 
put in at all. It immediately deteriorates from the word 'go'; from the 
time it starts, deterioration commences " ? 

A. Yes. 

O. "I should say 4-inch pipe ought never to be laid in any system 
unless it may be a piece of blow-off, or some service pipe?" 

A. Well, it would be service pipe passing between two parallel streets, 
as I have quoted there. 

O. And that is your opinion now, isn't it ? 

A. It is, certainly. 

O. You don't change your opinion from what you gave here ? 

A. No, sir. The case there T think was, they had cement-lined pipe, 
and they had miles of it. 

O. I had not quite finished reading. You further say : " In the last 
live or six water works I have built, I have protested against the use of it " ? 

A. That is true ; I had. 

O. Then if your judgment had been asked in regard to laying this large 
quantity of 4-inch pipe in Ouincy, you would have advised against it, would 
you not ? 

A. I certainly should. 

O. And you still think it was poor judgment to lay it there ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. In your estimate of the expenses, probable expenses of renewal, 
have you allowed for taking up the 4-inch pipe ? 

A. I am not quite sure. I have allowed for taking up all the 2-inch. 

O. Should not you allow for taking up all the 4-inch pipe ? 

A. Well, I don't know whether I would take it all up ; I think much 
of it might be taken up. 

O. There is a large quantity of 4-iuch pipe ? 

A, Yes. 

O. Do you remember what the figures are ? 64,000 feet ? 

A. Yes, 64,000 feet. 

O. About twelve miles ? 

A. Twelve miles. 

O. A little over twelve miles ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Have you allowed for taking up any of this 12 miles of pipe? 

Mr. Bennett: You mean in the $ 177,000 ? 

Mr. Morse: Yes. 

A. I am not quite sure. 

O. Please look and see. 
I 



206 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. It says here, " Replacing 2-inch pipe." I don't see anything about 
4-inch pipe. 

Q. Well, you ought, then, to allow for the necessary cost of taking 
that up, ought you not? 

A. Well, perhaps up to that time, that would be far ahead. 

Q. And of replacing it ? 

A. Yes. 

O. What would that be ? 

A. I don't know ; it would depend on what you would replace it with. 

O. What should you ? 

A. I could not tell without going all over it ; I might replace it with 
6-inch or 12-inch. 

O. It would be at least with 6-inch ? 

A. Yes, if I replaced it with anything it could not be less than that. 

O. Six inch pipe would be how much ? 

A. About 70 cents per foot. 

O. That would make an item of about $44,000, would it not ? 

A. Four-inch pipe was 50 cents per foot. 

O. Well, 6-inch pipe would be how much ? 

A. Six-inch pipe is 65 cents. 

O. Well, that is about $40,000 that would have to be spent? 

A. Yes, about that, if you took it all up. I am not sure I 

O. Let me read to you further from this examination : ' ' What should 
you say was the value of the 4-inch pipe in a street of that character ? A. 
It is of no value; if they were my own works I would pull it out to-morrow." 

A. That was the fact on account of their works. 

O. Don't you say it is a fact about Ouincy? 

A. Yes. That was a street built up as thick as Washington Street, a 
long line of it ; it never ought to have been there. That street ought to 
have had at least 10-inch pipe. That was in reference to one particular 
case there. 

Q. What were the last five works you had built before your testimony 
in the Syracuse case ? 

A. I don't think I have built any since then. 

Q. No, before. I mean the five works you referred to when you said 
you hadn't used any 4-inch pipe in those five works. 

A. I think one of them was in Gardiner, Maine ; another one was in 
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ; another one was in Reading, Mass- 
achusetts ; I think one was in Rochester, New Hampshire. That, however, 
was before the time you speak of, and I think in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Q. Were any of those places you have named larger than Ouincy ? 

A. No. 

O. And you had not vised any 4-inch pipe in any of those places ? 

A. No. I might have used one or two lengths in some place, as I say. 

O. But you protested against it ? 

A. Well, I always protested against it, but in blow-offs and things of 
that sort it is as good as anything. 

O. You would have protested a good deal more vigorously, I take it, 
if you had been asked to supervise this laying of pipes in Ouincy ? 

A. I was not asked to. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 207 



Q. If you had been and they had proposed to 3^ou to lay 12 miles of 
4-inch pipe in those streets where it had been laid, you would have protested 
vigorously against it, wouldn't you? 

A. Well, I don't know what I should have done. 

O. You know you would ? 

A. No, I am not quite sure of it. It would depend on the circum- 
stances. Sometimes the commissioners relieve me of all responsibility in 
those things. 

O. Well, I am assuming that the responsibility was upon you, Mr. 
Tidd, you would not have advised or permitted 4-inch pipes to be laid here ? 

A. I should not, unless in such a case as I have explained about. As I 
said before, if there were two large parallel lines of pipe within four hundred 
or five hundred feet of each other, or perhaps six hundred feet, and there 
were cross streets between, it might be well enough to let them answer as 
service pipes, but not for fire supply. 

O. Do you know of any such conditions in Ouincy as would justify the 
laying of 4-inch pipe as it has been laid ? 

A. Well, I could not tell you hardly. I might look it over and find 
some places. 

O. You testified in Syracuse, in another place, did you not, " I think 
I would eliminate the whole of the 4-inch pipe " ? 

A. That is what I told you. I have said many times I wished there 
was a law against it. 

Mr. Clifford : What is the date of that ? 

Mr. Morse : September, 189 r. 

Q. Again, in another part, Mr. Tidd — I have not quite finished reading 
— " A 4-inch pipe does not afford fire service, hence I have never used it." 

A. Well, I don't intend 

O. But you say there you never have ? 

A. Well, I cannot help it if the commissioners 

O. Well, why did you say you never used it ? 

A. Because I don't if I can help it. 

O. Then this question, the next question, " A single engine will suck 
it dry " ? 

A. That depends 

O. " A. No, sir ; it will not furnish a single engine." 

A. That depends on the head. 

O. You said that it won't furnish an engine, without any reference to 
the head. 

A. Well, that was their case ; they had no head. 

O. Was not the head there as big as it is in Ouincy ? 

A. No. They were very small pipes ; you could not get water enough 
down through there to hardly fill a 4-inch pipe ; it is a different case 
entirely. 

Q. But you made no qualification in your testimony. 

A. I know, but we were talking all this time about this Syracuse 
matter. 

O. I beg your pardon. When you said you never used it, you were 
not referring to Syracuse alone. You had had nothing to do with 
Syracuse ? 

A. Not in that particular expression. 



208 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Q. You say, " I never use it." 

A. I say now I would not use it if I could help it. I want to qualify 
that by saying I have to use it sometimes by being overruled by the Com- 
missioners. 

O. You didn't put that qualification in before ? 

A. That was very well understood there among us when I was testify- 
ing. If I had 16-inch pipes running through two parallel streets 400 feet 
apart, and had 250 feet of head on both of them, I think I could fill in a 
4-inch pipe. 

Q. One other question and answer — you have already covered it by 
3*our statement — "What do you say with reference to 4-inch pipe?'' "I 
have often wished it might be legislated against." 

A. I wish to-day it was. That is just what I have said here. 

Lucian A. Taylor, Sworn. 

Q. (By Mr. Colliding. ) I shall not go into the details of these several 
branches of the subject ; if the other side want to they can. Have you made 
any estimate of the cost of building the plant ? 

A. I have. 

O. Including pipe lines and everything in connection with it ? 

A. As they now exist. 

O. What is that, the cost of building it in 1S92 ? What is that estimate? 

A. You mean what is that in detail ? 

O. Yes. 

A. I have first estimated the cost of the piping system : 

2,679 f ee t of 20-inch pipe at $3.20 $ 8,572 80 

5,5S2 feet of 16-inch pipe at $2.13 11,889 66 

16,422 feet of 12-inch pipe at $1.56 25,618 32 

6,879 f eet of 10-inch pipe at $1.24 8,529 96 

18,040 feet of 8-inch pipe at 93 cents 16,777 2 ° 

994 feet of 7-inch pipe at 83 cents 825 02 

42,038 feet of 6-inch pipe at 73 cents 30,687 74 

948 feet of 5-inch pipe at 62 cents. 587 71 

64,689 feet of 4-inch pipe at 52 cents 33,638 28 

26,846 feet of 2-inch pipe at 30 cents, from which I deduct one- 
half — 15 cents 4,026 90 

Special castings 7,000 00 

121 hydrants at $35 4,235 00 

4 20-inch gates at $120.50 each 482 00 

6 16-inch gates at $82 each 492 00 

17 12-iuch gates at $49 each 833 00 

5 10-inch gates at $39 each 195 00 

30 8-inch gates at $28 each 840 00 

1 7-inch gate at $22 22 00 

64 6-inch gates at $18.75 each ... 1,200 00 

128 4-inch gates at $13.60 each 1,740 80 

93 2-inch gates at $9.35 each S69 55 

Rock work extra 8,500 00 

1,455 services at $11.50 each 16,732 50 

Engineering and contingencies. 27,644 32 

That item which I have added is 15$, which makes a total of $211,939 81 



THE QUINCY CASE. 209 



O. (By Mr. Robinson.) That is the total of what you have been giving? 

A. That is the total cost of the piping system. In that estimated cost 
of gates I have included the cost of setting and gate boxes ; in the service 
pipe I include all the expenses connected with them, including stop boxes, 
and so forth. 

Samuel M. Gray, Sworn. 

O. (By Mr. Gould ing.) You have not dug up the pipes to look at 
them, I suppose ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Now, the distributing system, you have considered the streets 
where the different sizes of pipe were laid with reference to the purpose it 
is designed for, have you ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What is your opinion with regard to that distributing system as a 
sufficient, permanent distributing system for Ouincy ? Have you anything 
to say about it, any criticism of it ? 

A. I think in the main it is good. I should recommend making some 
few changes, taking up some of the pipe and snbstituting it with other of 
larger size, but in the main it is good. 

O. With regard to the 4-iiich pipe, there is considerable of that, what 
do you say with reference to that pipe ? 

A. I should take up some of it, but not a large portion by any means. 

O. Have you examined this National Tube Works pipe that they use 
there, this Kalamein pipe ? 

A. I examined samples of it which Mr. Hall informed me had been 
taken out of the streets during the making of connections, etc., in the city 
of Ouincy, and I was also present with the gentlemen who visited McKees- 
port and saw the pipe made, and the various experiments that were made 
on it. 

O. What do you say with regard to its desirability as a pipe for dis- 
tributing pipe for a domestic supply in a city like Ouincy ? 

A. I don't see why it should not be a good pipe. 

O. How does it compare with cast-iron pipe, in your opinion ? 

A. It has some qualities, I think, superior to cast-iron. For instance, 
I am told, and I knew that was the custom generally, they test every piece 
of pipe before it leaves the works under hydraulic pressure. That is not 
always done with cast-iron pipe, and even if it were done the cast-iron pipe 
is easily cracked if one piece rolls against another, particularly the larger 
sizes, and those cracks are not always sufficient to show themselves before 
it is laid. Sometimes pipes slightly cracked, not perceptibly, are laid, and 
when the water pressure comes to them afterwards they are apt to burst. I 
have known of many such cases. But with this pipe there is no such 
danger. 

Then, again, one, to my mind, great superiority in the pipe is in the 
joints, in the difficulty of its ever pulling apart. Particularly in the con- 
struction of sewers, where the sewer pipe is, perhaps, 4 to 6 feet from the 
w r ater pipe, and from 12 to 15 or 20 below the surface of the street, I have 
seen a great many, and some serious, accidents occur from leaks in water 
pipes caused by the settling away while digging the sewer trench, the joints 



210 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



pulling out. It is almost impossible to keep them from not pulling out. 
But with this pipe it would be almost impossible to pull them out, and to 
my mind that would be a great value. Furthermore, while I am not 
acquainted with the pipe, you might say, have not used any, I certainly can 
see no outs to it to compare with cast-iron. 

Cross-examination. 

Q. {By Mr. Morse.) In this allowance for the pipe lines of $150,000 
have you figured on cast-iron or wrought-iron ? 

A. I figure on cast-iron. 

O. You have never used this Kalamein pipe, have you ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Why not ? 

A. Well, I haven't known much about it, and if I had the price is too 
high. 

O. Is the price any higher than the intrinsic value of the pipe calls for ? 

A. No, I don't believe it is. 

O. Have you ever recommended its use ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Did you ever hear of it before last year ? 

A. Oh, I presume I have ; I think I must ; but I don't remember if I 

have. 

O. Did you ever see any before you went out to McKeesport ? 

A. If I have I have forgotten it. 

O. And since you came back you haven't recommended it anywhere, 
have you ? 

A. No, sir, because I have had no occasion to ; that is one reason. 

O. You have been constructing water works since then, have you not ? 

A. I have not started any for which we had not already bought all the 
pipe. 

O. Do you think you will recommend it ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And when did you come to that conclusion ? 

A Every investigation I make of it, the more I see of it, the more 
favorably I think of it. I have come to that conclusion since last September. 

O. You do not know of its being used anywhere in this section, except 
in Quincy, do you ? 

A. I don't know anything about it. 

O. What would be the effect, Mr. Gray, of leaving wrought-iron pipe 
in the ground, supposing there wasn't any coating upon it? 

A. It would depend, of course upon the nature of the ground a great 
deal. In some cases it would corrode, and probably in most cases, and in 
some it might not. 

O. Speaking generally, the pipe would corrode, would it not ? 

A. I think so. 

O. So it would be impossible to use it to advantage ? 

A. I should not recommend using it without being coated. 

O. How long would it probably last ? 

A. It depends entirely upon the nature of the groimd in which it was 
laid, and also on the water which was in it. I have been told of cases where 



THE QUINCY CASE. 211 



it has lasted in the ground apparently as good as when it was laid fifty years, 
and I have been told of cases where it had not lasted ten. 

O. Has not one of the objections to the use of wrought-iron pipe been 
that it would not last ? 

A.. Certainly. 

O. And the object of this coating is to preserve the pipe from decay, 
is it not ? 

A. I should suppose that was one object. 

O. Do you think that there has been sufficient trial to determine 
whether or not it is a permanent protection ? 

A. I think this trial at Ouincy is a very thorough and convincing one. 

O. But most of those pieces have been down only a few years, have 
they not ? 

A. Well, cast-iron pipe that had been down eight years would not 
have been in such good condition as they are here. 

O. How many of those pieces do you understand have been down 
eight years ? 

A. I don't know ; I understood one or two of them had, and I see no 
difference between those which have been down a longer or shorter time. 

O. Isn't the fact about cast-iron that the corrosion is likely to appear 
within the first few years, and after that there is nothing further ? 

A. Not that exactly. It is apt to appear in the first few years full as 
much, perhaps, as in later years, but it continues on, it does not always stop, 
That will depend, too, upon the nature of the water within it. 

O. Where do you know of any instance of cast-iron giving out by 
reason of corrosion ? 

A. I don't know that I can mention any now. I have seen cast-iron 
pipe a great many times that has been taken up with a great many tuber- 
cles inside interfering with the flow of the water, sometimes projecting an 
inch and more, too. 

O. Those appear early, do they not, soon after the pipe is laid ? 

A. Not to that extent. 

O. Alter the tubercles get to be an inch in diameter, do they grow ? 

A. I don't think they do so very much. 

Boston, May 16, 1893. 

Petitioner's Case. — Opening Statement by J. E. Cotter, Esq. 

Determine that. What deduction shall you make by reason of wear 
and tear, by reason of imperfect pipes, by reason of having so large a 
quantity of pipe that is of no value whatever; pipes that Mr. Tidd would not 
recommend, and pipes as Mr. Tidd said in the Syracuse case — and I don't 
know that he contradicts his testimony — such as he had not put in for the 
last five or six years, and that he regarded them as of little value from 
the word go ? 

A. H. HOWEAND, SWORN. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.) Now, I should like to have you state to the 
Commissioners the result of your study, what you found, giving a full 
description of the works. 



212 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. The pipe leading from the reservoir dam to the pumping station is 
12 inches in diameter. I have made tests of the capacity of that pipe with 
a reservoir full, and with the reservoir at different elevations below the 
point of full — below the overflow ; I have tested it in various ways, and am 
led to infer that there are some imperfections in that pipe, inasmuch as it 
does not deliver its theoretical capacity at the pumping station under 
different conditions into about 18 per cent. From its action in delivering 
water, I infer that the defects, if any, consist in summits in the pipe where 
air may, and possibly does, collect, thus diminishing the area of the pipe 
itself. I have attempted to ascertain whether that is the case or not, but do 
not know it definitely, but that is my inference. 

O. You may explain what you mean by summits? 

A. A point where the pipe, instead of having a continuous level or 
down grade, has a rising grade from the reservoir to the pumping station. 
It may rise and then down again, and if it rises at one point higher than 
any other point back of it, and higher than any other point below it, air 
may collect there, and I am afraid it may collect in those points. At any 
rate, it has not its full theoretical capacity into about 18 per cent. The 
capacity of the conduit line is also insufficient to supply the pumping 
machinery that is now there. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding .) Is this the same pipe we were talking about 
before ? 

A. Yes, the conduit pipe from the reservoir to the pumping station. 
The pipe itself is of cast-iron. As far as the pipe and its connections are 
concerned, they are all right, with the exception of being, in my opinion, 
small for the present purposes and future of the water company. I find that 
by gravity alone the present conduit pipe will not supply one pump into 18 
per cent, of the capacity of that pump when moving at a rate of ioo feet 
piston speed per minute. 



Wednesday, May 17, 1893. 

Herbert T. Whitman, Recalled. 

O. (By Mr. Cotter.) How much 4-inch pipe did you put in last year, 
or has been put in since the city took possession ? 

A. We laid 774 feet of 4-inch pipe last season. 

O. When was that laid ? 

A. That was laid between June 1st and December 31st, 1S92. 

O. (By Mr. Clifford.) What kind of pipe ? 

A. Cast-iron pipe. 

O. (By Mr. Cotter.) How did that happen to be laid, the 4-inch pipe, 
during that period ? 

A. A portion of that pipe was used to connect the hydrants with the 
mains ; a portion of the pipe was laid in short streets where we had a large 
supply pipe running across the ends of those streets. 

O. What kind of pipe was that ? 

A. That was cast-iron pipe, standard pipe. 

Mr. Cotter : That is all. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 213 



Arthur H. Howund, Resumed. 

Q. {By Mr. Clifford.) What was Mr. McClellan's connection during that 
time with the National Tube Works Co. ? 

A. He was a purchaser of material of them, and prior to that time, 
when the National Tube Works Company had an office in Pemberton Square, 
and before Mr. McClellan had his office in Boston, an arrangement was made 
between Mr. Eaton and Mr. McClellan, to which I was a party, but not ad- 
vising, by which the National Tube Work Company agreed to turn over to 
Mr. McClellan all trade which they might have in New England for Kala- 
mein wrought-iron water pipe. It was not at that time called Kalamein 
coated ; that is, when the first trade was made ; it was called I. M. pipe, or 
indestructible metallic pipe, which was the same thing, afterwards termed 
Silvertin, and afterwards Kalamein. In return for that Mr. McClellan was 
to use that pipe in all works that he was interested in provided he could. 
Of course if other parties were interested and insisted on something else, of 
course he could not otherwise do it. 

O. Do you know whether he advertised as the eastern selling agent of 
that company ? 

A. I believe so : yes, sir, and so stated on letter heads and some circu- 
lars which he had. 

Mr. Cotter : I am calling attention to Exhibit 38, gentlemen, as one to 
which allusion has been made. 

Q. Is that one of the letter heads he used at that time ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Cotter: That is Exhibit 38, which is already in. 

Mr. Robinson : Let me ask whether it has any date ? 

Mr. Cotter : Sept. 14, 1883 ; and it is a letter which was put in evidence 
before, put in for the purpose of identification, and is a letter from Mr. 
McClellan to Mr. Howland. 

Mr. Robinson : Is that marked as an exhibit ? 

Mr. Cotter: Yes. 

The Witness : I do not want to be understood, in relation to Mr. 
McClellan's relation to the National Tube Works Co., as perhaps might be 
understood from my former statement, that in turning over all the work of 
this kind of pipe that the National Tube Works Co. might have to Mr. 
McClellan, that all pipe which they might sell he should have a commission 
upon, but if they had any inquiries from any parties who contemplated put- 
ting in water works or were interested in water works, they would refer 
them to Mr. McClellan, and he would then attempt to get a contract to do 
the work and furnish the pipe ; a sort of mutual arrangement between them 
to introduce that pipe. The prices were to be made specifically upon every 
piece of contract as it came up. 

O. In the estimate which you have given us of the expense or cost of 
the McClellan contract, you gave an estimate for the cost of the pipe, where 
did you obtain the data to determine the cost of the pipe ? 

A. It was based upon the contract price between Mr. McClellan and 
the National Tube Works Co., for furnishing that pipe delivered at Quincy. 

O. And those were the prices that you took down at that time ? 

A. Yes, sir, from my original memoranda. 



214 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Did you design the distributing system ? 

A. As originally laid out I did ; yes, sir. 

O. You designed it to the best of your ability, I suppose? 

A. At that time ; yes, sir. 

Q. In these cases where you find that a few of your sections fell a 
certain percentage short of performing up to the highest standard or up to 
the standard which you adopted, have you considered the remedies that 
might be applied ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say in getting at the cost of this pipe in 1883 you referred to 
your original figures ? 

A. Yes, sir ; and I further said that I didn't have them with me, but I 
find since, in looking for something else, that I have my original details in 
making up the cost of that pipe system, the whole system. 

O. You have them now ? 

A. I have them right here on the table ; yes, sir. 

O. Well, you also verified them by correspondence with the company, 
didn't you, in a full letter, which stated in detail all about them? 

A. You refer to the National Tube Works Co. ? 

O. The National Tube Works ; yes, sir. 

A. I did ; yes, sir . I wrote asking them for a transcript and they sent 
me one. 

Q. Have you got those letters here ? 

A. I have, sir. 

O. Will you produce them ? 

A. All of them ? There was considerable correspondence back and 
forth. 

O. Well, I should like to have you produce the letters of Nov. 5, 10 
and n, 1892, if you will? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Morse : Well, I am free to say that Mr. French, if I recollect 
correctly, never furnished what I asked him on the stand to furnish — copies 
from their books of their accounts with Mr. McClallan, in connection with 
furnishing the pipe. Perhaps he will do so. These may cover the same 
ground. 

The Witness : You refer to the letters to me of those dates ? 

O. {By Mr. Goulding) The letters to you of those dates. 

A. November 5, November 10 and November 11 — here they are. 

Mr. Goulding : I would like to put in this letter of November 5 

Mr. Morse : It is very evident that this is a communication from the 
National Tube Works to Mr. Howland, and putting it in does not furnish 
evidence of the truth of the statements contained. 

Mr. Goulding : I should not think these letters would be in and of 
themselves evidence, but he says he verified his own figures by this means. 

The Witness: If I said "verification" I meant comparison. I don't 
think I said verification. 

Mr. Morse : There is no objection to their going on in that way, but it 
may turn out that there are some errors about them. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 215 



Mr. Goulding : They are communications to the witness and have 
some bearing as to the basis of his calculation and figuring. 

Mr. Morse : He has not stated that they form a basis — that is just the 
point — he has not stated that he based his calculations upon these. 

Mr. Goulding : He has stated that he made these inquiries by cor- 
respondence and got these answers. 

Mr. Morse : As a matter of comparison. 

Mr. Goulding : I think if the witness states that he made the inquiries 
the other side has the right to cross-examine in regard to the matter, and 
to bring out certain things in connection with them. 

Mr. Morse : My brother has drawn out the fact that the witness made 
the inquiries. We did not put it in. The witness testified that from the 
estimates made by him at the time in regard to the quantities, etc., he fig- 
ured the cost of the material. It seems that since he has had correspondence 
with the Tube Works and has undertaken to compare those memoranda given 
him with his own. It may turn out that there is no material difference be- 
tween us and that it is hardly worth while to discuss the matter, but I simply 
suggest that at present these be admitted de bene, giving us a chance to 
examine into the matter. 

(The letter of Nov. 5, 1892, from W. Miller Stewart, of the National Tube 
Works, to the witness was marked "J. L- 67.") 

Mr. Goulding : Mr. Howland calls my attention to the fact, which I 
state, that the present prices of the specials are given. 

The Witness : The only prices given are in reference to the pipes, the 
past and present prices. I would like to explain that the ink and pencil 
figures on those letters are mine and are not contained in the original letters. 

Mr. Goulding next introduced the letters from Mr. Stewart of the 
National Tube Works to Mr. Howland of November 10th and nth, 1892, 
and they were marked "J. L. 68 " and "J. L. 69," respectively. 

Q. {By Mr. Goulding.) Did I understand you to say that it was 
through you that this arrangement that existed between Mr. McClallan and 
the National Tube Works was made ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not so state. 

O. I was under that impression. 

A. I stated that I was present, or knowing to the arrangement at that 
time. I think I said I was a party to it, not in the sense that I was partici- 
pating in it, but as advising Mr. McClallan and being with him in his con- 
ference with Mr. Eaton, the treasurer. 

O. As I understand the substance of that arrangement, if anybody 
wanted this pipe, and wanted to get it of the National Tube Works, the 
arrangement with Mr. McClallan was that the person would be turned over 
to him and he would be given an opportunity to get the job if he could ? 

A. That was as far as the National Tube Works Co.'s side of it was 
concerned. 

O. Then there was an arrangement between him and the company in 
regard to prices, or was there not ? 

A. No ; prices were to be quoted on each special job, taking into con- 
sideration the location, quantity and sizes. 

O. There was no stipulation to furnish to him at any particular price ? 

A. No, sir ; the stipulation was that they would not sell to others with- 



216 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



out giving him an opportunity to see if he could first sell and do the work, 
and make him a price and he might get what he wanted out of it. 

O. In this way he was given the opportunity to get the job ? 

A. To get the work ; yes, sir. 

O. And in that way they probably intended to increase their sales ? 

A. I presume that was their object. 

O. There was no partnership between them in any way ? 

A. Oh, no ; not the slightest. 

O. And he was in no other sense their agent, selling agent, that you 
know of? 

A. No, sir. He was authorized and warranted in advertising to be the 
agent to sell that pipe, because they were not to make prices to others, but 
were to refer everybody to him. He was to make his own prices. 

O. How long were you with Mr. McClellan in the capacity in which 
you served him at Ouincy ? 

A. About three years, I believe ; maybe four. 

Q. Was he extensively engaged in putting in water works at that time ? 

A. Not when I went with him ; no, sir. It was a branch of business 
that we built up together. 

O. Well, when did you go with him ? 

A. I think it was the early part of 1882 — it might have been the latter 
part of 1 88 1. 

Q. 1882, you mean? 

A. Yes, sir ; or it might have been the latter part of 1881. 

Q. {By Mr. Cotter.) 1881 ? 

A. Yes, sir ; excuse me ; the early part of 1882 or the latter part of 
1881 — I don't know exactly. 

Q. {By Mr. Goulding.) And you continued with him three years? 

A. Until the late fall of 1885, which would be a little more than three 
years. 

O. You say when he began it was a business which you built up 
together ? 

A. I said this water works business that he did while I was with him 
was not his regular business before, but it was built up while I was with him. 

0. Did it become quite an extensive business before you left him? 

A. It did ; yes, sir. 

O. Are you still interested in that business ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And have been ever since ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are, I think, a considerable owner in some water works similar 
to these ? 

A. I am, sir. 

Q. In that they are water works for domestic supply ? 

A. In that they are water works. 

O. I don't mean similar in quality, but similar in introducing a supply 
of water for domestic use ? 

A. Yes, sir ; private water companies. 

O. And quite a large owner? 

A. Yes, somewhat so. 



THE QJJ1NCY CASE. 217 



O. Won't you state in general what you include as property in your 
valuation of f 300,000 of this company ? 

A. I include the real estate and all the material, property that is either 
visible — that I have seen — or that has been included in the testimony of the 
company's experts of what they had. 

O. And that includes personal property ? 

A. Personal property, real estate, machinery, buildings, pipes, gates, 
hydrants, stand pipe, dam, gate-houses, conduit line, etc. 

O. I understand you to testify that similar pipe would in 1892 cost 
more than in 1883? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And the difference was about $10,000 ? 

A. $10,900 and something. 

O. $11,000? 

A. That includes the pipe laid. 

O. What is that, sir ? 

A. That is the pipe system, as a whole, laid. 

O. There is a little misunderstanding among counsel. I understand 
that you make no mistake when you say that the pipe in 1892, similar pipe 
laid, would cost $10,900 more than it would cost in 18S3 ? 

A. Well, as long as the question is raised, I will look and be sure. 
My statement was that to lay the existing pipe system of the Ouincy Water 
Company, as it existed in June, 1892, according to the prices in 1883, would 
cost $10,941.39 less than the prices in 1S92, to lay the same pipe. 

Q. Less? 

A. Yes ; that is, the prices in 1892 were more than in 1883 for the 
pipe laid. 

Recess taken until 2:15 P. M. 

Afternoon Session. 
Re-direct-Examination ok Arthur H. Howxand Resumed. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.) Mr. Howland, you have stated that the cost of 
this pipe, the pipe that was actually used, was between $10,000 and $11,000 
greater in 1892 than in 1883 ? 

A. Just the other way. 

O. Well, the other way ? 

A. We will have to look and see about it. The cost in 1883 was so 
much less than it would have been if the works hod been built in 1892. 

O. That is my understanding of i+ ? 

A. 1 think I stated so at the time. 

Mr. Cotter : Our friends on the other side thought it was the other way. 

Q. Would there be that difference in the event of cast-iron pipe being 
used ? 

A. There would be a larger difference in the event of cast-iron pipe 
being nsed. 

O. Sure of that? I will put a question : Supposing cast-iron pipe were 
used in 1892 in duplicating the works, how would that cost compare ? 

A. To lay with cast-iron pipe in 1892 rather than to lay with wrought- 
iron pipe in 1892 would cost $26,234.13 less. 



218 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



(By Mr. Bennett.) Wrouglit-iron 

A. These wrought-iron pipes if they had been laid in 1892 would cost 
so much more than if they had used cast-iron. 

O. (By Mr. Cotter.) You alluded in cross-examination to the remedies 
that might be applied to supply defects in the distribution system ? 

A. Yes. 

O. What remedies did you have reference to ? 

A. To the proper increase of the distribution pipe system from time to 
to time as public necessity and demand required, which if it had been made, 
the defects that now exist would not exist. 

O. Defects such as what? 

A. Such as insufficient capacity at certain points. If the pipe system 
had been extended in the past according to the original plan and according 
to the demands of the citizens, I do not think there would be any defective 
portion in the pipe system to-day. 

O. You mean to say that the system, the distribution system, had not 
been so extended ? 

A. I do not think it had ; no, sir. 

O. In that respect had it not been ? 

A. In the West Ouincy section, which is at the upper end of the map, 
when the pipes were first laid a 10-inch pipe was contemplated to Water 
Street. It was calculated at that time that in the extension of the pipe 
system a pipe 10 inches in diameter should be laid up there to this point, 
also that this pipe on Garfield Street should be extended, this pipe down 
here to Town Brook would be extended. These gaps have never been fdled. 
Pipe has been laid up through here, but not quite completed, so that we 
have not these feeders to reinforce. Again, the 10-inch pipe on Water Street 
would not in itself be sufficient for the development and growth of West 
Ouincy. I stated to the company that within five or six years a new line 
would be needed which would then be laid through what is called the 
Plains, and so come out on Copeland Street, and the two sections of pipe 
together, by the time the West Ouincy section had grown, would be suffi- 
cient to supply it. That has not been done by the company, but has been 
done to a large extent by the city, and when completed will satisfactorily 
reinforce the West Ouincy section of the city. 

O. Is West Ouincy an important section of the city ? 

A. It is quite so. This portion I called the Plains is to the south, 
about in this direction southwest. 

Q. Whether that section through which the pipe extends is more free 
from ledge or rock in the street than the other street ? 

A. You mean where the pipe was originally laid ? 

O. Yes ? 

A. No, sir. I think Water and Copeland Streets were the hardest 
streets to lay their pipe in in that direction that the Water Company found. 
And Water Street at Copeland Street was a made street, filled up above the 
level of the swamp with the debris from the stone quarries, and it was a very 
rough and difficult thing to get through. 

Q. I am comparing that street through which the main was laid with 
the other streets in West Quincy ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 219 



A. Oh, a large amount of the pipes in the streets in West Ouincy are 
laid in pretty nearly all ledge. 

O. But this particular pipe here through (Maiden ?) Street, that was 
not as ledgy as some of these other streets in West Ouincy ? 

A. Not all ledge, but it is pretty nearly all ledge stone and small stones. 
The other reenforcement was a 16 inch pipe around up somewhere in here, 
with a view to continuing it up through there, and so on around here, as it 
was contemplated by myself. I judge within five or six years they will have 
to lay that pipe. The company did nothing there, but the city is extending 
this pipe, and when finished it will reenforce West Quincy. This street here 
has no name. There is a 6-inch there, Rogers Street has a 6-inch pipe. I 
find on examining the record the city has located hydrants up here where 
the company laid a 2-inch pipe across between 6-inch pipes ; that is not 
what I call a proper extension. At Quincy Point is another place. The 
original plan contemplated was a pipe line which was to start out from the 
main in this direction, and was to go down Quincy Avenue through South 
Street, and so on to Ouincy Point to another pipe line. It was to be done 
whenever the growth of the city demanded it. I don't know as the growth 
has any more than reached that point, but I think at the present time that 
pipe should be laid ; when laid it will give sufficient pressure to Ouincy 
Point. The other section in this portion of Atlantic in which I think a 6- 
inch pipe should be laid is Old Colony Street. I left a branch in the main 
at that point for it, but that has never been laid. If laid, that will reenforce 
this point. Those are the only three points I find defective for present 
wants. 

Desmond Fitzgerald, Sworn. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.') That includes what ? 

A. That includes simply the piping, the specials, and the rock excava- 
tion, and it allows for 10 per cent, depreciation, which I think is a very 
small estimate. In my opinion that pipe is worth a good deal less than 10 
per cent, of what the cost of cast-iron pipe would be. 

O. You mean to say this pipe is not as valuable as the cast-iron pipe ? 

A. No, sir ; not in my opinion, it is not. 

Thursday, May 18, 1893. 
Direct Examination of Desmond Fitzgeraed Resumed. 

Q. {By Mr. Robinsoti :) No meters ? 

A. Well, I say no meters. I have not been informed that there are any 
meters of any account, any material number, any large number of meters. 
Then I think the pipes, the size of the pipes, is a deficiency in the system, 
and I am certainly of the opinion that the material of which the pipes are 
made is a very great deficiency. I consider that a very seriotis menace on 
the system. 

O. What examination did you make in reference to the pipe ? In that 
connection you may state that fact. 

A. Well, of course in regard to this pipe I have had no actual experi- 
ence in the laying of it. It is a comparatively new thing. But my opinion 
is — and this opinion is largely influenced by experiments I know have been 



220 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



made upon the pipe — that it is not, that it may not be a long lived pipe, 
certainly not as long-lived pipe as cast-iron pipe, and next that it is more 
difficult to make service connections with it. That, I think, is a very serious 
evil, the fact that you have got to clamp on to this pipe a large piece of iron, 
to surround the pipe with a wrought-iron strap to hold that in place, with a 
gasket to make the joint, in other words, that you have got to add material 
to the pipe in order to bore into it to make connections is a matter of serious 
defect compared with cast-iron pipe. And then I think there is a liability 
to chemical action in that pipe. I should judge that there might be a 
liability to chemical action from what I know in regard to such matters of 
that kind, and it is corroborated by some experiments made by Prof. Nichols 
a few years ago on this very pipe. 

Mr. Goulding : Is that exactly evidence, what Prof. Nichols found ? 

O. ( By Mr. Morse. ) Have you his report there ? 

A. I have, yes, sir. 

Mr. Morse : If necessary, we can call him. 

The Witness : Mr. Nichols now is no more 

Mr. Morse : We won't call him, then. 

Mr. Robinson : You can call him if you want to. 

The Witness : I am sorry to say 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.) Who was Prof. Nichols? 

A. Well, Prof. Nichols was a man I knew very well, indeed. He was 
concerned with us on the Boston water works in a great many experi- 
ments. He was a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — a 
chemist of great ability and a great loss to the country. 

O. Do you know anyone who assisted Prof. Nichols in making experi- 
ments about the time that report was made ? 

A. No, I do not ; unless possibly Prof. Norton, and he is dead now. I 
don't know who there is. 

O. Well, then, without reference to Prof. Nichols' report, you may 
proceed. 

A. I think I have already referred to the galvanized iron pipe. That 
I know, it is a matter of common knowledge ; I think it has also been a 
matter of experiment, that the zinc is slowly absorbed in galvanized iron 
pipe. 

O. What effect does that have upon the pipe, upon the iron ? 

A. Well, of course, as soon as your coating is gone the iron is liable to 
go. But worse than that, I think it is an absolute danger to health. I 
should not be willing to drink water out of a galvanized-iron pipe on any 
account. 

O. You may state the difference between cast-iron pipe and wrought- 
iron pipe ? 

A. Well, of course, cast-iron pipe has been used for many, many years. 
We do not know what the life really is of cast-iron pipe, but we know it 
must be more than a certain number of years. There is no doubt it is more 
than seventy years — the fair life of cast-iron pipe, I mean on the average ; 
and almost all these other pipes are experimental in their nature. 

Q. How about wrought-iron pipe? 

A. Well, the wrought-iron pipe, of course, does not last unless it is 
coated with something. 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 221 



Mr. Robinson : We do not hear you over here. 

The Witness: Wrought-iron pipe, unless it is coated or protected, has 
a very short life generally. I think, too, the fact that it is so thin and has 
so little substance is against it. 

O. That is the wrought-iron pipe ? 

A. Yes. Although I will say this, that it is — the tensile strength, of 
course, is far greater, and if you could protect it without danger it would 
be — the whole nature of the pipe, I think, my view of it, I think would be 
altered as a material. 

O. If exposed to water will it deteriorate before cast-iron pipe? 

A. Oh, yes. Cast-iron pipe is a long-lived pipe, and a safe pipe 
to use. 

O. You were speaking of the chemical action at Quincy on Kalamein 
pipe. 

A. Well, that result of the chemical action ; my opinion about that is 
founded upon these experiments by Prof. Nichols. If you exclude those 
experiments I cannot speak about the effect of that chemical action. 

Q. Have you an opinion on the subject ? 

A. Well, my opinion is founded largely on that subject on these 
experiments. 

O. No matter what it is founded upon ; state if you have. 

Mr. Goulding : It is well for the witness to state what his opinion is 
founded upon, and it seems to be founded on something that is incompetent. 

Mr. Cotter: I suppose the ground of the opinion would come later. 

O. From your experience, from your study of the subject as a pipe 
system for a water supply, have you formed an opinion as to the effect of 
chemical action upon Kalamein pipe ? 

A. I have. 

The Chairman : Any question before us ? 

Mr. Cotter: Yes ; I asked whether he had formed an opinion in regard 
to chemical action upon this pipe, this Kalamein pipe, upon his experience 
and study upon this subject. I have not asked him the ground of his 
opinion. And I understand my brother on the other side to object. 

The Chairman : He can give his opinion. A scientific man can give 
his opinion. 

Mr. Cotter : I propose, then, to ask him the grounds. 

O. Have you an opinion ? 

A. I have. 

O. What is your opinion on that subject ? 

Mr. Goulding : Undoubtedly Mr. Fitzgerald is a competent hydraulic 
engineer, but we do not understand that he pretends to be a chemist. 

The Chairman : How far he has chemical experience, you may exam- 
ine him upon that. 

Mr. Goulding : I have not understood that he claimed himself to have 
been a chemist or to have treated this pipe chemically in any way, but that, 
owing to certain reports made by a gentleman some years ago, he had some 
opinions. The last question, I am perfectly well aware, which refers to his 
knowledge of the subject, would seem, if he had an opinion, to make it 
competent. 

The Chairman : Yes. The weight would be quite another matter. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. I should like to have you state to the Commissioners what atten- 
tion you have given to pipe, to water pipe, what experience you have had 
with it, and if you have studied the effect of pipe being exposed to water, to 
chemical action, you may state that ? 

A. Well, I have studied the subject just as hydraulic engineers do study 
the subject, Mr. Cotter. 

O. For how long a time ? 

A. Well, for a number of years past. But I do not now know whether 
you refer to the chemical side of it exactly, the results of the chemical action 
I have examined. 

O. Have you had occasion to observe the results of chemical action ? 

A. Oh, yes ; all action of water on the inside of an iron pipe is chemi- 
cal action, and I have had occasion to observe the tubercles and study them 
for years on our system and elsewhere, wherever I have seen them. 

Q. Whether or not the durability of pipe is one of the important things 
that you have occasion to pass upon, and have had for years? 

A. Well, it is a subject that I have not had to pass upon so much as to 
examine and know about. I have had occasion to order large quantities of 
pipe and recommend them, and I have always recommended cast-iron pipe. 

Q. Is that on account of chemical action upon it ? 

A. Well, it is — well, because I think it is much the best pipe now in the 
market for ordinary purposes of water supply. 

Mr. Colliding : I should like to ask one question merely. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding.) As to whether from any experiments of your 
own on this Kalameiu pipe or any observation of the effect of water on it 
made by yourself you have formed an opinion as to the chemical effects of 
the water upon the pipe. 

A. Not from experiments made by myself. 

Q. Or observations made by yourself? 

A. Well, from observations made by myself I have formed an opinion, 
Mr. Goulding. 

Q. As to the effect of chemical action upon it ? 

A. Yes. 

O. What were those observations ? 

A. Well, I have examined the pipes as they lay in a pile there at 
Ouincy, and I thought — 

O. I do not ask what you thought, but what examination you made. 

A. I was going to state that my opinion was — 

O. I do not ask for your opinion, but simply the means you have had 
for forming an opinion. 

A. Well, when you say chemical action, of course, the ordinary rust on 
the pipe is chemical action. The action that Prof. Nichols refers to is — 

O. I have not asked you anything about what Prof. Nichols refers to, 
but the extent of your experience and observation upon this class of pipe. 

A. Well, sir, from what I have seen of that pipe I should not be willing 
to trust it against rusting for any term of years. 

O. I did not ask you what your opinion was, but merely what means 
you had of forming any opinion at all of what the chemical action of water 
is upon this pipe treated and manufactured in the way this is ; not what 
your opinion is, but what examination you have made of it. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 223 



A. Well, I could not speak from my own experience, sir, of the chem- 
ical action beyond that of rust. 

O. On your own experiments, then, you would say you had not formed 
an opinion from your own experiments or observation as to the effect of 
water, the chemical effect of water upon the pipe ? 

A. No. 

O. Would you ? 

A. No. 

Mr. Goulding : Your opinion is formed from other things. 

Mr. Cotter : I will now put the question. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.) What is your opinion as to the effect of chemical 
action upon this Kalamein pipe ? 

Mr. Goulding: We submit that the witness is not qualified to give 
an opinion upon that subject. He says he has no opinion about it from any 
experience of his own or observations of his own. He is merely importing 
into the case what he has read in another science. It may be something 
very nearly related to his own, but not his own. 

The Chairman : We think it is admissible. The weight of the evi- 
dence is reserved. 

Mr. Cotter : Your own opinion, Mr. Fitzgerald, is what we are calling 
for. 

The Chairman : Yes, your own opinion, not how it is formed. 

The Witness : Well, my own opinion is that there is liability to chem. 
ical action on that pipe other than that of rust, which if carried on for a suf. 
ficient time would lead to the destruction of the pipe. 

O. What is the nature of that? 

A. Well, the nature of that action is one by which the lead and the tin 
are absorbed by the water. And if you — if this is correct — and I am of opin- 
ion that there is great danger of it, the life of the pipe would be seriously en- 
dangered ; and also it is a menace, I think, in some conditions it is a men- 
ace to health. 

O. Assuming, Mr. Fitzgerald, that the coating of the pipe has been re- 
moved, from whatever cause, what, in your opinion, would be the durability 
of the pipe in the system ? 

A. I think it would be comparatively short compared with cast-iron 
pipe. 

O. Have you an opinion as to the number of years ? 

A. No, I have not any definite opinion as to the number of years, be- 
cause that varies so much under different circumstances. 

Q. Well, you say, " short as compared with cast-iron pipe." What do 
you mean ? Can you speak more fully ? 

A. Well, I should mean on general principles. You mean if the coat- 
ing is lost ? 

O. Yes. 

A. I should say on general principles about one-fifth, perhaps. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) One-fifth? 

A. Well, yes, I should say so. Of course, that is a very approximate 
figure. 



224 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Cross-Kxamikation. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) I should like to have you state exactly again 
what personal experience and observation you have niade of this Kalamein 
pipe, with a view of seeing what chemical effect water would have upon it ? 

A. Well, I think I already answered that question pretty fully, Mr. 
Goulding. 

O. Perhaps you will oblige me by answering it again ? 

A. Certainly, 

O. I want you to separate in your answer all knowledge derived from 
the opinions and experiments of others ? 

A. I told you, Mr. Goulding, distinctly that I answered "no" to your 
question when you excluded the experience and experiments of others. 

O. Well, then, independently of the opinion and experiments of others, 
which you did not personally witness, you have no opinion upon that sub- 
ject, have you? 

A. Upon what subject? 

O. Upon the subject of the effect of water upon this particular kind of 
pipe ? 

A. No — you said the chemical action of water. 

Q. I mean the chemical action — I intended to put that in — the chem- 
ical action of water on this particular class of pipe, the Kalamein pipe 
independently of the opinions and experiments of others which you did not 
witness. Have you any opinion ? 

A. Oh, I have a strong opinion, but that opinion is founded almost 
altogether upon those experiments of others. 

Q. Well, isn't it founded altogether on the experiments and opinions 
of others, as to the precise question of the chemical effect of water on this 
particular kind of pipe ? 

A. Well, as far as actual experience is concerned, I answer your ques- 
tion, yes. That is, the answer which I gave before, "no," would cor- 
respond to an answer "yes," now. 

O. You have no opinion derived from your own experience ? 

A. No. 

O. {By Bennett, J.) The effect would depend on the character of the 
water that goes through the pipes ? 

A. I think it would, your Honor. 

O. Do you know what the character of the Quincy water is ? 

A. Well, not so far as the acids in the water are concerned, which, I 
think, would have a large effect upon it. I do not know the chemical 
constituents of the water, as far as the acids are concerned, sufficiently to 
form an opinion ; and even if I knew that I should want to experiment, too. 

O. {By Mr. Gonldijig.) Your cast-iron water pipe is also coated, 
isn't it? 

A. Yes. 

O. That wouldn't last if you took the coating off— that would not last 
very long, would it ? 

A. Oh, yes. 

Q. It would ? 

A. About as lonsr as with it. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 225 

O. Then you think the coating wouldn't make much difference ? 

A. No, I don't think it would make much difference except in the 
first ten years, or perhaps even longer. I think that it does add in that way 
to the total life of the pipe, while we don't know what that is, but it is so 
great that it is a very small addition. I know that men who have had the 
longest service — the man who has had the longest service with cast-iron 
pipe in this country that I know of is decidedly of that opinion, that it 
doesn't add very much to the total life of the pipe. 

O. Then you would think that cast-iron pipe, without any coating, 
would be a pipe permissible to use for water supply ? 

A. Oh, yes ; in some places I should say decidedly yes. 

O. And you would specify it, perhaps, for work ? 

A. No, no ; I don't think I should specify it, because the coating, as I 
said before, for the first few years is an advantage, and doesn't add very 
much to the cost, and we always put it in. I have seen and known water 
in some places which actually coats the pipe, and cast-iron pipe is almost 
as clean at the end of twenty or thirty years as it was when it was put in 
where there is lime in the water. 

O. I think you said that owing to the tensile strength of this iron — 
this wrought-iron — if it w T as coated with something that would stay you 
would regard it as a valuable pipe, as good as cast-iron ? 

A. Oh, I didn't say as good as cast-iron, but I said my judgment of the 
value of that pipe would be very materially altered if I knew that it could 
be coated by a material, which would not only stay, but which would not 
be injurious. 

O. So far as its superior tensile strength is concerned, that is an 
advantage, isn't it ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. So far as its lightness is concerned, if it was combined with equal 
strength and durability that would be an advantage, wouldn't it? 

A. Yes. 

O. You spoke of the effect of water on galvanized iron pipe — that you 
wouldn't want to drink water out of galvanized iron pipe — is there any 
galvanized iron pipe dowm there ? 

A. Well, I understood that this 2-inch pipe was, that a certain portion 
of it was galvanized iron pipe. 

O. And it was with reference to that that you made your remark ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. That you would remove altogether ? 

A. I would, yes. 

O. Didn't put any estimate of value upon it ? 

A. I think not. 

Q. (By Mr. Robinson.) Excluded it, didn't you ? 

A. Yes, excluded all the 2-inch pipe. 

Re-Direct Examination. 

Q. (By Mr. Cotter.) Now, you stated something in regard to the 
clamping of the pipe ; can you illustrate what you mean by that from any 
piece of pipe here ? 

A. I see a piece of pipe here ; not the one I brought here, but, how- 



226 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ever, it will do equally well for that purpose. That is one of the clamps put 
on the service pipe connections, I presume. It is not the piece of pipe I 
brought here, but it will do equally well to illustrate what I said in regard 
to the service pipe connections. Of course, in a cast-iron pipe the connec- 
tions are simply screwed right into it at once ; in this it is necessary to put 
on this piece and put this clamp around the pipe and clamp it down on to 
this, and then to bore a hole through. That adds to the cost, also these 
pieces which go around the pipe are liable to go more rapidly than a piece 
of cast iron. 

O. You said something about the difficulty in tapping the pipe ? 

A. Well, that was exactly what I alluded to, what I have illustrated. 

Re-cross Examination. 

Q. [By Mr. Clifford.) Mr. Fitzgerald, I want to understand the exact 
extent of your testimony. I understand you to state that in your opinion 
both from the character of the water and from the chemical effect produced 
by passing the water through this pipe, it is dangerous to public health ? 

A. Pardon me, your Honor. I stated that I considered the passage of 
the water through the galvanized iron pipe absolutely deleterious and dan- 
gerous to health and I considered that there was a possible danger in the 
Kalamein pipe itself on that score. 

O. Did I misunderstand you to say that in your opinion this water as 
it was furnished to-day to the citizens of Ouincy was dangerous to public 
health ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not state that I know it to be dangerous to health, 
no, sir. I do not consider that it is as free from danger as a cast-iron pipe. 

O. I wasn't referring to the relative, I was referring to the absolute — ■ 
I understood you to say before, on both those grounds, that you understood 
it to be dangerous to public health ? 

A. No. 

Mr. Clifford : I misunderstood you. 

Boston, May 19, 1893. 
N. Henry Crafts, Sworn. 

A. * * * * The examination of the system of piping, the dis- 
tribution system, shows some very glaring defects, that is, defects according 
to my judgment, in the large amount of small size pipe, and in the matter of 
what I call side connections, that is, circuits, although a great part of that 
would be remedied in the future. There is a large amount of 2-inch pipe, 
and I made an estimate that to make the substitution necessary for the 2-inch 
pipe, some of it to 4 and some to 6, would involve a cost of about 113,917. 

Cross Examination. 

Q. (By Mr. Goulding.) You are familiar with all kinds of pipe which 
are used in this country for water supplies in the distributing system ? 

A. I am more familiar with cast-iron pipe than any other. I know 
something in regard to wrought-iron and cement, but I have had no experi- 
ence practically myself with anything but cast-iron. 



THE QLMNCY CASE. 227 



Hiram Nevons, Sworn. 

Q. ( By Mr. Cotter . ) Have you had to do with the pipes for water 
supply, laying them? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Have j r ou examined this system as shown on that map ? 

A. I have partially. 

O. What do you say as to the sufficient size of the pipe as shown there 
for a city with a population of about 18,000? 

A. I should think there was a large amount of small pipe there, too 
small. 

Q. Too small ? 

A. Yes, when you take into consideration fire protection. I believe 
that is the next important thing to a good domestic supply — fire protection. 

O. What is the trouble or difficulty with that as a fire supply ? 

A. Well, looking at it in my casual way that I have, looking over the 
size of the pipes there, I should think there was a large amount of pipe it 
would be almost entirely useless to put a hydrant on to, especially on the 2- 
inch. 

O. What do you say as to the 4-iuch ? 

A. Well, it might do in short residential sections, I mean where there 
are no manufactories, and where they were connected up at the ends by 
larger mains, say anywhere from four to five hundred feet. 

O. But take the longer streets, whether that would afford sufficient fire 
protection ? 

A. Well, I should be afraid of it. I should want to understand the 
conditions perfectly with regard to pressure, and also how it was backed by 
cross sections running in. In our own city we have discarded it entirely 
and are taking up — we have somewhere about 22 miles of pipe to take up, 
and most of this amount we are taking up on account of the insufficiency 
for fire supply, fire protection. 

Q. Four-inch pipe ? 

A. Yes, sir ; three and four. 

O. Do you know anything about the Kalamein pipe manufactured by 
the National Tube Works Company ? 

A. Well, I never have had anything to do with laying it. I have seen 
the pipe and know of it by its reputation ; and in looking up statistics with 
regard to water works I took pains to see how universally it was being 
used, and whether cities were using it or not that went in for permanent 
work. 

O. Where is the pipe used? 

A. Well, the largest amount of it is mostly used out on the Pacific 
coast. And I assume it is used out there on account 

Q. (By Mr. Colliding.) Are you testifying from observation, having 
been out there and seen it and know anything about it, or simply what you 
have heard ? 

A. That is what I have read. 

Mr. Cotter : If you object to that I shall not press it. 

O. (By Mr. Cotter.) You have seen the pipe, however? 

A. Yes, sir. 



228 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. What do you say as to the quality of that pipe as compared with 
cast-iron pipe ? 

Mr. Robinson : I don't understand he is quite competent. He has not 
used it. 

Mr. Cotter : He has seen it and examined it, and he is a man who is 
familiar with water supplies and has been superintendent of the public 
works of the City of Cambridge for 15 years. 

O. To what extent have you studied the piping of water systems ? 

A. Well, I have made it a constant study for the last 16 years. 

O. And have you had to do with the water supply of other cities and 
towns other than Cambridge ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Have you testified as an expert in cases ? 

A. I have ; yes, sir. 

O. In what cases ? 

A. I testified in the Haverhill case last year. 

O. And have you studied the quality of pipes for water piping ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. And their sufficiency for fire protection ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. How long have you pursued such studies ? 

A. Well, I have devoted my whole attention ever since I have been in 
the position. 

O. And different kinds of pipes ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Now, I will ask you to state your opinion as to the sufficiency 
and as to the value of this Kalamein pipe, and compare it with cast-iron 
pipe. 

Mr. Goulding : I submit he has hardly qualified himself for that. He 
is a practical superintendent of water works, but I do not understand — it 
has not appeared as yet that he is an educated hydraulic engineer, or that 
he has studied the principles according to which this pipe is made, or 
knows anything about the manufacture of it, or has had any practical 
experience with it. He has testified in some case, but whether he testified 
to some fact he knew or — he certainly did not testify about Kalamein 
pipe, as I understand it. He can give his experience as to cast-iron pipe 
and such pipe as he used. There was none of this pipe, I take it, at 
Haverhill. 

Mr. Cotter : Whether he has seen this particular pipe or not, on 
account of giving so much attention and study to pipe, to the character 
and quality of pipe necessary for such use, he is entitled to express 
some opinion. The weight of that opinion we concede is for the Com- 
missioners. 

Mr. Goulding : I suppose, in the first instance, he has got to be com- 
petent ; and we claim the trouble is, he has not studied this pipe. 

Mr. Cotter: I don't know that anybody has, because it is unknown- 
He sa}'s he has examined the pipe, however. 

Judge Lowell : He may answer the question. 

A. I base my opinion in regard to this pipe upon the cement-lined 
pipe. This pipe, I notice, is a little thicker ; and about the preparation of 



THE QUINCY CASE. 229 



it — with all the information I can get it is an experiment. This pipe has 
only been used since, I think, 1882, and as we usually judge of things by 
the way they are used and as they are sold in the market, and in looking 
up in regard to this, I find that there is only small towns and corporations 
putting in small works, who have used this pipe — I find out of 42 or 43 at 
the close of the year 

Q. I don't think that is quite responsive. What is your opinion as to 
the value of this pipe ? 

A. What do you mean ; as compared with cast-iron ? 

O. Whether you would recommend the use of this pipe ? 

A. I certainly should not. I have had my fingers burned too much 
with similar pipe. 

O. Why not ? 

A. Well, in the first place, take it in New England ; we have got to 
go uphill and down, and it is a rigid pipe when it is laid ; my objections 
would be — that would be one of my main objections to it, it is a rigid pipe, 
and in making deflections you must have specials, and that adds to the cost 
of it. And then the method of tapping is another expense and disadvantage 
that I should not like. And I assume that the corporation cock that is 
inserted in that would clog up, as it does on cement lined pipe. It is a very 
common thing for the valves, when they are soldered on to cement lined pipe 
for the cocks to close up. 1 never saw that in a cast-iron pipe, but it is a 
very common thing in cement lined pipe for it to almost entirely stop up. 

O. What do you say with regard to making connections with this pipe ? 

A. What do you mean, the supply connection ? 

O. Yes. 

A. That is what I have been describing now. I shouldn't like that 
method. 

O. Why not ? 

A. Well, you have got to use that band, and in the cast-iron you can 
put your machine on and tap directly into the main. As I say, my experi- 
ence has been that the screw cock, where it comes in contact with the sheet 
iron is apt to corrode, there is a sort of chemical process that goes on that 
closes it up. You have a great deal of trouble of that kind. 

O. Can you illustrate from that what you mean by that clogging ? 
(Exhibit handed witness.) 

A. Yes, sir. That is a pretty good sample, too. Where this is inserted 
in the main there is some kind of chemical action takes place ; I am no 
chemist, but I know some action takes place there whereby it will close up ; 
and I have seen it also where the galvanized pipe has been connected on 
this side, showing that there is a difference between the sheet-iron and the 
cast-iron with regard to this corrosion that takes place inside of the cock. 

O. What effect does the con-osion have upon a wrought-iron pipe ? 

A. Well, generally on our cement lined pipe it eats it away ; there is 
a rust starts right around it and eats it away. 

Q. Whether in making a connection with pipe of this kind, this lined 
pipe, there is any likelihood of the lining being disturbed in making con- 
nections and putting the bend on which you have described ? 

A. I shouldn't hardly think there would be. 



230 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Cross-Examination. 

O. {By Mr. Colliding.) Did you ever use a foot of this Kalamein 
pipe ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Did you ever have charge of auy works where it was used ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Did you ever see it manufactured ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Have you ever studied the process of manufacture ? 

A. Well, not this pipe especially. 

Q. I am talking about this pipe especially ? 

A. No, sir ; I never did. 

O. Do you know anything about how many cities and towns use it, 
except what you have read in books, newspapers, articles, something of that 
sort ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. What do you mean by a rigid pipe, that this is a rigid pipe ? Is it 
more rigid than cast-iron ? 

A. It is when it is laid. Cast-iron the joints are flexible, we can swing 
a length of cast-iron pipe anywhere from three to six inches, deflect it. 

O. The method of joining the lengths is such? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Do you know whether you can in this pipe ? 

A. Well, from w T hat I have seen and its illustrations, I should say it 
could not be done. 

O. Will you say you can't deflect it at all ? 

A. I understand you can't deflect it at all. You might get some spring, 
perhaps, out of it with several lengths put together. 

O. Now, do you know that the tapping of this pipe results in clogging 
up at that point ? Do you know from any observation or experience with 
this pipe that at the point where it is tapped it clogs up? 

A. Not this pipe, no, sir. 

O. You compare it with cement-lined pipe ? 

A. Yes, sir ; it is only slightly different. 

O. Do you know anything as to the comparative tensile strength of 
this pipe and cement-lined pipe ? 

A. Well, I should say it was 

Q. Do you know anything about it? For we don't want you to say 
anything you don't know. 

A. I know T the tensile strain of this pipe is very large, and I know that 
even take a stove-pipe it will stand enormous pressure, and I should say 
this was increased according to the thickness over the other pipe. 

O. It would be less liable to break under shocks and rams, as you call 
it, would it not ? 

A. Well, I think likely that would be a fact, yes. 

Q. When were you first requested to come here and testify ? 

A. I think it was some time in the early part of last winter or last fall. 

Q, I understand that this opinion you have given with regard to this 
distributing system is upon a casual examination of the map ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 231 



A. Yes, sir, it is. 

O. You have made no figures nor calculations about it, have you ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. Have you been out to Ouincy to look at the works ? 

A. No, sir. 

O. You spoke about the 4-inch pipe that is being taken up in Cam- 
bridge ; it was put down, then, some time ; when was it put down ? 

A. Well, most of it was put down in 1868 to 1870. 

O. There is considerable of it to your knowledge around in different 
towns and cities ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they made a woeful mistake. 

O. And it is thought now they had better substitute something else 
for it ? 

A. Well, it is a pretty well known fact, I think, that there is a great 
stress laid now on fire protection. 

O. Have you made any calculations or considered with any reflection 
in particular, taken any pains to find out, what remedies could be applied 
to the defects of this distributing system ? 

A. No, sir, I have not. 



Boston, July 11, 1893. 

JEDEDIAH F. Gl,EASON, SWORN. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter). What is your full name ? 

A. Jedediah F. Gleason. 

O. You live in Ouincy ? 

A. I do ; yes, sir. 

O. You have been in the employ of the water company ? 

A. I have been in the employ of the water company since March, 1884. 

O. Under Mr. Hall ? 

A. Yes. 

O. In what capacity ? 

A. I have been there as foreman. 

O. You were foreman before the city took possession ? 

A. I was ; yes, sir. 

O. Did you retain your position ? 

A. I did ; yes, sir. 

O. And Mr. Hall remains as superintendent ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Have you had to do with the laying of the pipes and water mains ? 

A. I have had charge of laying the water mains and services. 

O. Beginning at what time ? 

A. Beginning — what do you mean ? 

O. When did you begin to have charge of the water mains and laying 
the services ? 

A. Well, I think it was somewhere about September or October, 1884. 

Q. 1884 ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. You have been in the service ever since ? 



232 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Yes, sir. 

O. Have you had occasion to replace some of the pipes laid ? 

A. I have not ; no, sir. 

O. Did you see any replaced ? 

A. Of the Ouincy Water Company's ? 

Q. Did you see any replaced for any cause ? 

A. Only for freeze-ups. 

O. Only for what ? 

A. Only for freeze-ups. 

O. State just what you mean by that? 

A. Well, there is one place where the city dug down a street and left 
the pipe exposed and it froze up in one very cold spell. 

O. Do you have occasion to expose any of the pipe that was put down 
as early as 1884 or since ? 

A. Yes, sir ; I have had occasion to expose it every day. 

O. Do you mean to say that none of the pipe that was put down during 
that time was taken up and replaced by other pipe ? 

A. No, sir, never. 

O. Did you notice anything about the pipes, rust or any corrosion ? 
(Objected to as leading. ) 

O. Did you notice anything about the pipes ? 

A. I had noticed it from the time I commenced to work on it, noticed 
it very closely. 

O. What had you noticed about it ? 

A. Well, I had noticed some places there had been a little rust, but 
never no rust to eat into the pipe. That rust would wipe off very easily and 
you could take a cold chisel and come right down to the Kalamein, I be- 
lieve they call it (I am not posted on these names of these things) but we 
always call it the Kalamein Pipe, or the Converse Lock Joint, that is the 
technical term we have for using amongst ourselves, I don't know whether 
it is correct or not. 

Q Whether in connection with the joints, where you noticed the rust 
or in connection with the joints particularly, did you notice any corrosion 
or rnst ? 

A. I never have noticed any corrosion to amount to anything that I 
should notice at all. 

Q. I will ask you whether you noticed any, and we will let the Com- 
missioners determine what it will amount to ; did you notice any? 

A. I can't say I have. 

O. In what parts of the pipe ? 

A. You can dig up the pipes in any part of the town, and in any place 
there will be rust in the dirt that lays next to the pipe ; and when you come 
to shovel the dirt off, the pipe will be as bright as it was the day it was put 
into the ground. 

Q. Did you notice any rust about the joints ? 

A. No, sir. These joints are cast-iron joints, and there is where you 
will see the rust, on the cast-iron, if any place. 

O. Did you notice any other difficulty with the pipe ? 

A. No, sir. 



THE QJJINCY CASE. 233 



Q. Do you know anything about the patching of the pipe ? 

A. About the patching of the pipe ? 

Q. Yes ; do you know anything about patching the pipe or any part 
of it? 

A. I have patched one or two places, yes, sir. 

O. Where are those places ? 

A. I decline to answer that question. 

Q. Why do you decline to answer it? 

A. For my own benefit. 

O. What do you mean by that ? 

A. I mean I may want to use it some time. 

O. For what purpose ? 

A. That I refuse to answer. 

Q. When was the pipe patched ? 

A. I don't remember just the time. 

O. Did you call Mr. Hall's attention to that fact? 

A. I don't know as I did. 

O. Do you know whether you did or not ? 

A. I probably made a report ; I probably reported it on my daily report. 

O. Did you then state where it was ? 

A. I did. 

O. (By Mr. Goulding. ) Was the daily report in writing or a verbal 
report ? 

A. I have what they call a daily report from the foreman that they 
make out every day and pass into the office. 

O. ( By Mr. Cotter. ) A written report ? 

A. Yes, sir ; a written report. 

O. When was that report made ? 

A. I can't say as to that. 

O. Can't you give some idea of that ? Was it this month ? 

A. I don't believe I could. 

O. Was it within a month ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. What year was it ? 

A. I don't think I could tell you what year it was. It was before the 
city took possession of the plant. 

O, What was the nature of the patching ? 

A. I don't know, but I should decline to answer that question. That 
is a matter of my own business, patching that pipe. 

O. Who did the patching ? 

A. I did it myself. 

Q. Under whose direction ? 

A. Under my own directions. 

Q. Who assisted you ? 

A. I don't know as I could tell you ; we have so many Italians to work 
there I don't know any of their names. 

O. Were they Italians who helped you ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Nobody else ? 

A. No, sir. 



234 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. Do you mean to say you can't tell the Commission who helped you ? 

A. I can't tell them who helped me, they may be in New York differ- 
ent times. 

O. Have you tried to ascertain ? 

A. I have not. 

O. Do you now try to refresh your recollection on that subject ? 

A. I do not. 

O. You do not try to refresh your recollection ? 

A. No, sir. It would be useless, because our men are mostly Italians ; 
go by numbers. 

Q. Do you not mean to say, Mr. Gleason, that you do not desire to tell 
us or give us any information on that subject ? Isn't that your position ? 

A. I do not — those questions I have declined to answer as a matter of 
my own business, that I got from my own experience, and I don't propose 
to give it to the public. 

O. What use do you propose to make of it ? 

A. I propose — they are all the capital I have to work upon. 

O. Capital ? 

A. Yes, sir ; I should consider them capital, as good as capital to me. 

O. For what use, for what purpose ? 

A. To make a living from. 

O. How is it capital to you ? 

A. As an expert workman. 

O. To make a living by ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. What income are you deriving from that capital ? 

A. I may derive some income in the years to come. 

O. Have you heretofore ? 

A. I have derived $3 a day, what rny salary has been, that is all. 

O. Are you willing to state the number of instances of patching ? 

A. I don't think I could ; perhaps two or three instances. 

O. When were you subpoenaed, when were you summoned to come 
here ? 

A. Dast night. 

O. Did you object to coming? 

A. No, sir ; not a bit. 

Q. What did you do with the money which was handed to you ? 

A. I threw it on the floor. 

O. Threw it down ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Whom did you consult before coming here ? 

A. I have consulted no one. 

Q. Have a conference with Mr. Hall ? 

A. I did not. 

O. Didn't talk with him about coming ? 

A. I talked with Mr. Hall this morning and told him J was coming. 

O. Did you have a conference with Dr. Gordon ? 

A. I haven't spoke to Dr. Gordon for more than a month. 

O. Since you were summoned, I mean ? 

A. I have not. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 235 



J. Herbert Shedd, Sworn. 

O. (By Mr. Morse.) This includes new pipes from the reservoir down 
to the pumping station ? 

A. That does not include that. I added that in another estimate which 
I made of what I considered necessary to do to the works to put them into 
a first rate condition. 

O. Then the figures which you have given up to the present time do not 
include any allowance for putting in the larger pipe down to the pumping 
station ? 

A. It does not. 

O. What would that cost ? 

A. $24,192. That had not been done by the Company, therefore, I 
did not include it. 

O. (By Mr. Clifford.) The substitution of all this pipe which you 
consider necessary had not been done ? 

A. It had not been done, but because I was going to estimate the value 
of this water to the Company to sell and put a price to it, I thought the 
works with the present length of distribution pipes should be put into a 
proper condition to sell that water. 

O. (By Mr. Cotter.) Do you deem it necessary to put in such a pipe, 
an additional pipe ? 

A. I do consider it necessary to put a conduit line from the reservoir 
to the pumps. 

O. Why so ? 

A. Because the present pipe is not sufficient to supply the pipes under 
probable contingencies in the city. The city is not supplied by a reservoir 
system so as to have a storage of water to be used in case of fire. To run 
the pumps day and night would be rather an expensive thing, to run it as a 
direct supply system, and under those circumstances the reservoir is likely 
to be drawn pretty low when the pumps are not running, and the contin- 
gency of a fire under such circumstances, when the present leading main 
would not supply those pipes with fire service, would be inadequate, and 
you might wipe out in a few hours all it would cost to build the whole of 
the works. 

Q. Did you estimate the expense of such a line of pipe? 

A. Yes, I gave that. 

O. (Referring to a paper. ) Was that prepared by you ? 

A. It was prepared under my direction. 

O. Will you state what it is ? 

A. That is a statement of what it seems to me necessary to do in the 
distribution, giving each street by itself, with the lengths, in order to put 
the works into proper condition to furnish a fire supply to the present vil- 
lages, to the present territory now occupied by pipes for fire service. 

Q. You may state what ought to be done, in your opinion ? 

A. Certain of the small pipes should be removed and larger sizes and 
additional pipes should be added. 

O. In what streets ? 

A. Shall I read the names? 

Q. Yes, and give the lengths in each street, 

A. (The witness read the following. ) 



236 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



SCHEDULE OF CHANGES PROPOSED TO OBTAIN AN EFFICIENT 
SYSTEM FOR FIRE SERVICE. 





Pipes 


to be Removed 


Pipes to be Added. 


Street. 


2" 
Lengths. 


4" 
Lengths. 


6" 
Lengths. 


6" 
Lengths. 


8" 
Lengths. 


10" 
Lengths. 


Hancock j 550 




650 


800 
600 
800 

I.300 
I50 

1,500 
800 

1,000 
350 
700 
750 
400 
400 
350 


650 




Walnut 400 

Myrtle 1 800 

Chestnut ' 


400 








I50 








Appleton , 1,500 

Squantum 






300 
600 




1,700 


North j 350 

Atlantic 700 
















350 










400 






Atlantic Avenue 










St. near R. R 










Old Colony 1.. 






I,IOO 
1,500 




Newbury Avenue .... 


400 






700 
700 
750 
600 






300 








750 






Birch 










Central Avenue 


1,750 






3,250 

900 

3,500 

2,000 

800 

650 






500 
750 








Highland 


650 






550 


Newport Avenue 






Standish Avenue 












West Elm 












Kemper 








6co 

200 

1,250 

1,850 

75o 
700 




Gould 












Franklin 












Wollaston Avenue.. . 


450 
300 


1,600 
















Chester 









Hobart 




550 




1,000 
450 
550 
500 






1,000 
1,100 

55o 
1,050 

550 
1,200 

650 
1,300 

350 




Fayette 

Safford 


400 








Taylor 


















Lincoln Avenue 












Warren Avenue 




650 








Wiuthrop Avenue .... 


1,300 














Park 


300 


250 








Summit Avenue 


I50 


8,950 
1,900 




Copeland 



















Q. What is the occasion of the changes proposed in that table ? 

A. It is to furnish to the various villages which are now supplied with 
water, suitable fire service. The cost of this is estimated as a separate item 
which has not been given to you at all. 



THE QU1NCY CASE. 



237 



SCHEDULE OF CHANGES PROPOSED TO OBTAIN AN EFFICIENT 
SYSTEM FOR FIRE SERVICE. 





Pipes 


to be Removed. 


Pipes to be Added. 


.Street. 


2" 
Lengths. 


4" 
Lengths. 


6" 
Lengths. 


6" 
Lengths. 


8" 
Lengths. 


10" 
Lengths. 


Hall Place 


850 






2,6oo 
3,950 
I,IOO 
600 
650 
I,IOO 

5°0 

400 

2,300 

1,300 

900 






Common 










Square— Common .... 
No. i 


900 
650 
650 

500 

400 


















No. 2 


I, IOO 








Greenleaf 






Linden Court 






St. next Court 










Valley 










Coddington 












Faxon Place 


900 











Saville 


500 




700 
700 




Dimmock 










Alleyne 








250 

1,000 

700 

800 

500 

1,200 

1,000 

1,900 

250 

2,650 

IJOO 

650 

2,350 




Bracket 












Field 












Bracket Place 












Flm Place 


500 










Pond 










Newcomb Place 


I,00O 










South Walnut 










Bet. So. Wal. & Main 












Sumner 




1,500 
1,200 
95o 
2,100 
2,500 








South 






6,800 


Ouincy Avenue 




1,600 


Granite and Pleasant. 








500 

I.750 


3,200 




Payne 

President Avenue .... 




1,750 

1,200 
600 

1,700 
700 
700 
500 
300 

1,000 












High 

Curtis Avenue 


300 


















Baxter 












Charles 












Washington Court . . . 
Maple Place 


500 
300 














Summer 


1,000 








New Road 




1,200 
250 




Water 












Elmwood 










1,900 


Foster 




1,100 




I,IOJ 




Harvard 






800 


Adams 




900 


1,300 
500 






I,6oo 


Bridge 








700 


Beal 






I,6oo 

















O. At the time the city voted to purchase, in April, 1892, in your 
opinion was it necessary to make the changes described and indicated in 
this schedule ? 

A. I think it was necessary in order to give a suitable fire service ; and 
I have called a suitable fire service a general country service ; not a high 
city service. 



288 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. What do you mean by that ? 

A. Well, a stream that will rise 70 feet above the ground and discharge 
about 200 gallons a minute ; and that there should be in all cases at least 
an ability to play two streams, and in a good many places an ability 
to play four streams, and in the middle of the city au ability to play 
eight streams, and that is indicated upon the maps which I have here, 
where the two streams, four streams and eight streams are ; in one or two 
places I thought that six streams would be sufficient. 

(The schedule above referred to was marked Exhibit 81. — G. C. B.) 

O. This is a schedule of pipes to be removed and laid ? 

A. That might be fairly called extensions ; work to be done between 
now and 1910. 

O. (Referring to certain maps.) Were these maps prepared under 
your direction ? 

A. They were. 

O. Was this map prepared by you ? 

A. Under my direction, and on the plans are the streets and sizes of 
pipe as I have given them to you in that table. 

Mr. Cotter : " Ouincy Water Works. Proposed addition to Distribution 
system to secure efficient fire service. July, 1893." 

The Witness : The map shows additions and changes, and shows what 
the works will be after the changes are made. 

Mr. Cotter : We will offer that as Exhibit 82. 
(Map marked Exhibit 82.— G. C. B.) 

Adjourned to Wednesday, July 12, at 9.30 A. M. 

Boston, July 12, 1893. 

Percy M. Blake, Sworn. 

77;,? Witness : This is the estimate of the cost of the work, using the 
quantities paid for under the McClallan contract of 18S3, using the cost of 
iron pipes and the prices which prevailed in that year for materials of that 
kind. This is the detail of the first estimate of $ 160,000. 
Mr. Cotter : You may proceed. 
The Witness : Read this in detail, shall I ? 
Mr. Cotter: Yes. 

The Witness : The first estimate is that of the piping furnished under 
the McClallan contract : 

2,673 't- 20-inch pipe, 200 lbs. per ft 534,600 lbs. 

5,410 " 16-inch " 130 " " 703,300 " 

9,367 " 12-inch " S5 " " 796,195 " 

6,879 " 10-inch " 65 " " 447,135 " 

14,656" 8-inch " 45 " " 659,520 " 

994" 7-inch " 38 " " 37, 772 " 

2 °,576 " 6-inch " 30 " " 617,280 " 

948 " 5-inch " 26 " " 24,648 " 

48,587 " 4-inch " 20 " " • 971,740 " 

Total length of pipe, 110,090 ft. 

Total weight of the iron 4,792,190 lbs. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 239 



which is equal to 2,139 tons, with an allowance for waste, etc., making the 
total amount, as I call it, 2,145 tons at $34 per ton delivered in Ouincy, mak- 
ing a total of 172,930 for cast-iron pipes. Then there are 40 tons of special 
castings at $66 per ton, making $2,640 ; which added to the amount of the 
cost of the pipe makes $75,570.00. 
The cost of laying these pipes is : 

2,673 ft- °f 20-inch at 80 cts. per foot $2,138 40 

" 3,246 00 

" 4,215 15 

" 2 , 75 1 60 

" 5,129 60 

" 328 02 

" 6,172 80 

" 255 96 

" 12,146 75 



5,410 ' 


16 " 


60 " 


9,367 " 


12 " 


45 " 


6,879 ' 


10 " 


40 " 


14,656 ' 


8 " 


35 " 


994 ' 


7 " 


33 " 


20,576 ' 


6 " 


30 " 


948 ' 


5 " 


27 " 


48,587 ' 


4 " 


25 " 



Making a total cost for laying $36,384 28 

To that amount I have added for rock excavation in the streets 

through which pipes were laid in 1883-4 7, 500 00 

Then the three items of the cost of laying the pipes, of this rock 
excavation, and the cost of the iron pipes and special cast- 
ings together aggregate 1 19,454 78 

Then to that I have added valves and hydrants, with cast-iron 
boxes, set in the street on the mains : 

20-inch gates, at $125 each 

72 " 



4 


20- 


6 


16 


17 


12 


5 


10 


25 


8 


1 


7 


20 


6 


84 


4 



42 

33 
26 



$ 500 


00 


432 


00 


714 


00 


165 


00 


650 


00 


23 


00 


380 


00 


1,092 


00 



19 •■•■ 

13 " 

Making the total cost of the gates or valves $3,956 00 

Then there were 70 hydrants of the ordinary pattern set at $35 

each $2,450 00 

14 hydrants, with an additional outlet, at $38 532 00 

And 1 large hydrant 44 00 

Making the cost of the Itydrants §3,026 00 

Total cost of valves and hydrants 6,982 00 

Which, added to $119,454.78, makes a total cost, including rock 

excavation of all the piping, valves and hydrants on the 

mains laid in 1S83-4 $126,436 28 

That is the principal item in the estimate. 

The pumping station — that is, the building and the sheds. . . . $10,500 00 
The pumping machinery, boilers and foundations for the same. 19,000 00 
The pipe connections, valves, drains, etc., in and about the 

pumping station 2,100 00 

External grading and finishing around the pumping station. . . 600 00 

That makes a total for the pumping station and plant of $32,200 00 



240 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The next item is the well, which I call Well No. i, constructed 

under the McClellan contract, 30 ft. by 27 $4,500 00 

And the filter gallery, which was abandoned 1,500 00 

Q. (By Mr. Morse.) When was that abandoned, Mr. Blake, do you 

know? 

A. Before it was used I was told : 

The standpipe with its foundations and connections $9,000 00 

That makes a sum total thus far of $173,636 28 

Now, I have added to that the land purchased for the pumping 

station 5, 000 00 

And for the standpipe lot, some 30,000 feet 800 00 

Then I have also allowed for the 370 service pipes which were 

laid during this period of construction, the work ending in 

1884, 370 service pipes, assuming them to cost $10 each. . . . 3,700 00 

These were the pipes laid during the year 1884. 
Then I have allowed for engineering and superintendence and 

incidentals up to and including the year 1884 8,000 00 

Making a total of $*9i> 136 20 

There is deducted next from this amount the cost of the filter 

gallery which was abandoned 1,500 00 

Making a total of. $190,636 20 

Then I have allowed a constant depreciation of 2 per cent. 

annually for the 8 years from 18S4 to 1892, 16 per cent. ; 

this amounts to 30,501 79 

Deducting that from the amount given before it, makes the 
present value of the work done under the McClellan con- 
tract of 1883-4 $160,134 41 

The next item which I have is the one amounting to $59,000. 

O. (By Mr. Clifford.) One moment. You gave the grand total as 
$191,136.28, and then you subtracted $1,500 ? 

A. Yes, sir. I see the typewriter has made a mistake of 8 cents. 

O. No, but the thousands. If you have 191,136 and deduct 1,500, it 
don't give 190,636. 

O. (By Mr. Morse.) It should be 189,000, should it not ? 

A. It is a mistake probably in the typewriting ; it should be 189,000. 

Mr. Clifford : That would change the 160 to 159. 

The Witness : It was so in the original, 159,134.41. 

Pipes Laid Since 1884. 
The next estimate is that of the cost of pipes laid since 1884 : 

172 ft. of 16-inch at 130 lbs. per ft 22,360 lbs. 

355 " "12 " " 85 " " 30,175 " 

3,384" " 8 " " 45 " « 152,280 " 

21,462 " " 6 " " 30 " " 643,860 " 

16,102 " " 4 " " 20 " " 322,040 " 

26,846 " " 2 " wrought-iron pipe. That is estimated at 33 

cts. per foot laid complete. 

Making a total of 68,321 ft. in length, and in weight 1,170,715 lbs. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 241 



Kqual to 523 tons, calling it 525 tons, at $32, which was the 

average price prevailing since 1884 of iron, would amount to $i6,Soo 00 

11 tons special castings, at $56 616 00 

Making the total cost of pipes and castings $17,416 00 

And the cost of laying these pipes is as follows : 

172 ft. of 16-inch at 50 cts. per ft $86 00 

355 " " 12 " " 40 " " 142 00 

3,384 " " 8 " " 30 " " . 1,015 20 

21,462 " " 6 " " 25 " " 5,365 50 

16,102 " " 4 " " 20 " " 3,220 40 

26,846 " " 2 " wrought-iron at 33 cts 8,859 18 

Making a total of $i8,6S8 28 

I have added to that for rock excavation $2,500 00 

And those three items of the cost of laying the pipe, rock exca- 
vation and the cost of the materials aggregate 38,604 28 

Then there are set with cast-iron boxes : 

5 8-inch gates, at $26 each $130 00 

446 " " 19 " 83600 

44 4 " " 13 " 57200 

And 93 2 inch valves, at $6 558 00 

Making the cost of the gates or valves " $2,096 00 

36 hydrants, at $35 1 , 260 00 

Then I have added 1,065 service pipes, which was the balance 

of the service pipes laid up to 1892, at $10 each 10,850 00 

And the cost of the second well, abandoned 5, 000 00 

And the cost of the 12-inch conduit line from the dam to the 

pumping st ation 9,890,00 

That brings us to a total of $67, 700 28 

I have added to that for superintendence and incidentals 2,000 00 

That makes a footing of $69,700 28 

I deduct the cost of the abandoned well 5, 000 00 

Which makes another total of $64,700 28 

Then I deduct for depreciation, at the same rate as named 

before, 2 per cent, annually for four years, or half the time 5,176 02 
Making the present value of the work done since 1884, not in- 
cluding the Braintree dam and reservoir $59,524 26 

Going back to the correct amount of 159, 134 41 

I add this 59,524 26 

Which gives us a total of. $218,658 67 

I add to that the cost of the Braintree dam and reservoir 68,539 5 2 

Which gives us a total of $287, 198 19 

The next estimate is one showing the cost of construction of entirely 
new works in 1892, using the same quantities and the same capacities, same 



242 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



dimensions right through which we find in the works as they now exist. 
Shall I read this in detail ? 
Mr. Cotter : You may. 

The Witness : I think I can give these aggregates without going 
through this whole list. 2,672 feet of 20-inch pipe. 
Afr. Goulding : This is cast-iron pipe ? 

The Witness : This is cast-iron. All these estimates are based upon 
cast-iron. 

9,722 feet of 12-inch pipe. 

6,875 feet of 10-inch pipe. 

18,040 feet of 8-inch pipe. 

904 feet of 7-inch pipe. 

42,038 feet of 6-inch pipe. 

94S feet of 5-i 
64,689 feet of 4-i 
26,846 feet of 2-inch pipe. 
(The latter wrought-iron, galvanized or coated.) 

The total weight of the cast-iron pipe is 2,662 tons. The weights per 
foot are the same as those used in the previous estimate. I have allowed 
for waste enough to make a total amount of — 

2,670 tons at $27 50, delivered in Ouincy $73,425 00 

51 tons of special castings at $54 per ton 2,754 °° 

The cost of laying these pipes is 49, 177 59 

To which I have added for rock excavation the same amount as 

before 10,000 00 



nch pipe, 
nch pipe. 



And the three items of laying, rock excavation and cost of 

materials aggregate $135,356 59 

The number of gates included in the estimate are the same as those quoted 

in the other two estimates. 

Q. {By Mr. Goulding.) How much was that rock? 

A. $10,000, the same amount as allowed in the other two estimates. 

Q. I thought it was $7,500 before. 

A. In one, and $2,500 in the other. The gates are the same in number, 
and the hydrants are 121 in number. 

The gates and hydrants together cost $10,287 00 

Making the cost of the piping, including valves and hydrants 

and the rock excavation, quantities being the same as in 

l8 92 $145,543 59 

The pumping station, building and sheds, same as 

before $10,500 00 

The pumping machinery, boilers and foundations 

for same 19,000 00 

The pipe connections, valves, drains, etc., in and 

about the pumping station 2, 100 00 

Grading and other finishings externally 600 00 



The pumping plant then stands at 32,200 00 

which is the sum of the items just quoted. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 243 



Well No. i 4,500 00 

Well No. 2, with its connections (abandoned) 5, 000 00 

The filter gallery (abandoned) 1,500 00 

The standpipe, foundations and connections 9,000 00 



Making a further amount of 20,000 00 

to be added to the aggregate. 

Then 1,455 service pipes at $10 00 14,550 00 

The dam and reservoir as before 68,539 52 

The 12" conduit line from the dam to the pumping station 9,890 00 



Making a total of $290,823 1 1 

I have added to that for engineering and contingencies 10,000 00 



Making a total of. $300,823 1 1 

I have deducted from that the cost of the abandoned well and 

filter gallery 6, 500 00 



Making the net cost $294,323 n 

Those are the estimates which I first quoted. 

Q. {By Mr. Cotter.') Did you give attention to the piping system and 
the quality of the pipes used ? 

A. Yes, sir; I examined that. 

Q. What have you to say on that subject ? 

A. I find the piping to consist of a kind which is open to much doubt 
as to its durability. 

Q. Why so ? What knowledge have you of that pipe ? What attention 
have you given it ? 

A. I first became acquainted with these pipes in 1883. These pipes 
were offered — if this is competent — I should begin, perhaps, in this way : in 
1883 I was constructing engineer of the Wakefield Water Works, works be- 
ing built to supply the Towns of Wakefield and Stoneham with water, and 
specifications were prepared and bids were invited for the distribution piping 
for those works. The specifications were such that any kind of material 
could be offered. Mr. Cyrus Wakefield was President of the Water Com- 
pany. Bids were received at my office there from a number of parties for 
several kinds of piping. We had cast-iron pipes from the different manu- 
facturers ; we had wooden pipes offered us from Michigan ; we had three 
kinds of cement lined pipes offered us, and as another choice we had metal- 
lically protected pipes offered. They at that time were not called Kalamein 
pipes, but they were supposed to have been tin coated. 

Mr. Goulding : I do not see how this is quite competent. 

O. Your study of this pipe — if you will confine yourself to that and 
state only what has a bearing on this pipe. State what opportunities you 
have had to study this pipe and what you know about it ? 

A. I was instructed to examine into the value of the materials offered. 
That included an examination into the merits of this pipe. 

Q. You may state what examination you made and the result of your 
examination ? 

A. I was inclined favorably to look into it, for the reason that it was 
offered us a little less than cast-iron that year. Samples were sent to my 
office, and they were the usual samples, samples in the usual form, highly 



244 FACTS ABOUT PiPE. 



polished and coated ; and a scraping of these samples showed that there 
were two coatings upon the pipe. I made no further examination of the 
pipes at that time than to remove the several coatings from the pipe and make 
a measurement, so far as I could, of the thickness of those coatings and the 
elements of which they were made or the constituents of those coatings. 
The pipes were thrown out of consideration and were left, I think, in the 
pumping station yard ; at any rate, they were thrown away and I never saw 
them but once afterwards, and when I did the pipes were covered completely 
with rust ; they had been lying out on the grass, and the conclusion which I 
formed then was that in rejecting those pipes we were justified by the results 
which we observed four or five weeks after we had received them and thrown 
them out in that way. That was the first experience I had with them. Then, 
in 1888, in constructing the water works for the City of Dover, N. H., we 
had occasion to replace, or rather to run across, and we did replace in some 
cases, some old pipes, pipes of old water companies which had been surren- 
dered to the city and came into our possession. In replacing those pipes 
and running across the pipes of the old companies, we found some compara- 
tively new pipe, which, as far as we could learn, had been laid about four 
years. That would have been in 1884 or 1885, possibly. Those pipes were 
of this kind, and when taken out were full of incrustations, and the structure 
of the pipes — the effect of the rolling, which is visible in all wrought-iron, 
seamless or tubular pipes, or pipes made in that way — were so marked that 
striations or rustings had worked in parallel lines, parallel to the axis of the 
pipes, and it appeared that with a little internal pressure the pipes might be 
split open like a pea-pod. I endeavored to learn the history of those partic- 
ular pipes, but there was no responsibility attached to anybody at that time 
and we never could trace them nor trace their connection, but they were 
pipes which bore every evidence of being pipes of this description, and I 
think were furnished from the Boston office of the tube works. 

O. Did you have any further experience ? Did you notice the pipes at 
Quincy ? Did you have any further experience with them ? 

A. I came across these same pipes again in another instance before I 
examiued them in Ouincy. That was in the town of Ware, and it was 
simply an incidental examination. I was visiting the pumping station of 
the Ware Water Works 

O. Ware, Massachusetts ? 

A. Ware, Massachusetts ; and I learned that the town four or five 
years before had put in a line of pipe of this kind and they had been aband- 
oned when the new works were built. Portions of the pipe were lying at 
the pumping station. As I remember, I found one piece leaded into a com- 
mon cast-iron bell, which was evidently done for the purpose of connecting 
it with a cast-iron section, and that pipe was to all appearances in the same 
condition that any plain, unprotected, wrought iron pipe would be in. 

Q. What was that ? Describe the condition ? 

A. Well, it was rusted entirely on the outside ; rusted with lines of cor- 
rosion running parallel to the pipe. 

O. Did you examine the pipe at Ouincy — give any attention to that ? 

A. I have seen the pipes — a few pieces of the pipes there. I have 
examined the samples which have been brought in here, and I have seen the 
pipes in five or six places in the streets of Quincy. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 245 



O. From your examination and knowledge of the pipe, what do you 
say as to the practicability of using it ? 

A. It is my opinion that there are so many uncertainties connected 
with the durability of that pipe that it would not be prudent for an engineer 
to use it. 

O. Now, I will ask you to describe the piping system. That would 
involve the size of the pipe, and whether the piping system as a whole is 
suitable. 

A. I find that 15$ of the total mileage of the pipes in Quincy are 2" 
pipes, which is a size altogether too small to furnish water for any purpose 
other than that for a limited domestic use. I find further that some 35 or 
36$ additional consists of 4" pipes. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) How much? 

A. About 36 per cent, in the total mileage consists of 4-inch pipes and 
those pipes are competent to furnish water for all ordinary domestic pur- 
poses, but entirely incompetent to furnish a proper supply for fire protection 
in thickly settled or moderately settled territory. It is impossible to obtain 
from a 4-inch pipe, unless the head is very extreme, more than one compe- 
tent fire stream. 

Q. {By Judge Bennett. ) The percentage of 2-inch pipe was 15 ? 

A. 15 ; yes, sir, and 4-inch, 36, making 51 per cent., or a little more 
than half. I find that this pipe is so arranged that three of the most im- 
portant sections of the town are practically without adequate fire protection, 
and the sections I refer to are, first, the Wollaston section, which takes all 
of its water through an 8-inch main ; West Ouincy, which is the crookedest 
part of the town so far as the streets go, and the difficulty of extinguishing 
fires is concerned, is also without what I should term even an ordinary fire 
protection, by reason of the fact that it receives all its water through an 8- 
inch main ; that the easterly section, or Ouincy Point, is also dependent 
upon 8-inch main for all of its water. These are the conditions which pre- 
vailed in 1S92. If pipes have been laid since, they perhaps affect that 
criticism ; but I take the plan as I find it in 1892, as I found it at the time I 
made my examination 

O. In regard to the 2-inch pipe and the 4-inch pipe what do you say as 
to the advisability of using it for fire or domestic purposes ? 

A. The 2-inch pipe, so long as it remains free from incrustation and 
corrosion inside will supply a limited number of houses or buildings with 
water for domestic purposes ; it will not furnish pressure enough for ele- 
vator service nor pressure enough for ordinary lawn sprinkling. The 2-inch 
pipe used is of a kind whose life is limited to 10 years or to 12 years at the 
outside ; it is a class of material which corrodes very rapidly on the inside 
and is of so small diameter that very little corrosion affects its discharge ex- 
ceedingly, so much indeed that with a length of 1,000 feet it would be 
practically impossible to get much of a stream ; I doubt whether through 
the 2-inch pipe, 1,000 feet, water enough would be delivered to throw a 
stream 40 feet after the corrosion had begun. The 4-inch pipes are much too 
small in their capacity for hydrant service and wherever 4-inch pipes exist 
or are laid there is not a hydrant on those that will furnish two streams of 
water. There is not a section in Ouincy furnished with 4-inch pipes which 
will furnish two fire streams or more than two fire streams at the moderate 



246 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



height of 60 or 70 feet ; beyond, on Wollaston Hill, which is very elevated, 
it is impossible to throw water to the ridge poles of ordinary houses. 

Q. From the 4-inch pipes ? 

A. From the 4-inch pipes. 

Q. Now, in replacing some of this, you said you replaced it with cast- 
iron pipe? 

A. I should certainly do so, if it were at my option. 

Q. Why so ? 

A. Because cast-iron pipe is regarded as the standard material. I 
should increase the size, use cast-iron pipe made specially for the purpose, 
and carefully inspected before accepted. 

Q. Is the expense of cast-iron greater or less ? 

A. Than what? 

O. Than the Kalemein pipe ? 

A. To-day it is less than the Kalameiu pipe. 

Q. How was it in 1892 ? 

A. Yes, I think the cast-iron pipe was much less in 1892. 

Q. Is there anything further you desire to say in reference to the pipes ? 

A. Unless a comment upon the leading main from the Braintree reser- 
voir is in order. 

Q. Yes. 

A. That is in one sense a pipe, although no water is drawn from it by 
water takers, but that leading main is the main artery of the Ouincy water 
supply. 

Q. That is from 

A. From the reservoir to the pumping station. Practically all the 
water which is supplied to Ouincy now comes through that pipe. The 
capacity of the well is so small that on many occasions the water is not 
drawn from that at all. This pipe is large enough to deliver only the 
amount of water which the pumping engine will take away when run at a 
very moderate rate of speed. While the pumping engine can be arranged 
to exert a vacuum to increase the head or increase the delivery, still when 
that is done the engine becomes almost uncontrollable, and a very objection- 
able class of machinery. In this case the capacity of the 12-inch main 
limits the capacity of the entire system of supply there, for I do not take 
the storage capacity into but very little account when it comes to meeting 
the strain of maximum demands, which are liable to arise, and which do 
arise, as the records show. This pipe is laid in a peculiar way. It is not a 
grade conduit, as I infer from going over the ground, unless appearances are 
extremely deceitful, and it terminates in such a way at the pumping station 
that a good deal of the vis inertice of the water before it reaches the pump- 
ing station is lost. There are a great many things that make it awkward to 
operate that pipe. The connections at the other end are also somewhat 
awkward, so that the pipe, even small as it is, is not arranged to do what 
it would if laid properly. It is far too small, and is not capable of being 
made any more serviceable except at the expense of the action of the 
pumping engine, and that only to a limited degree. 

Q. What would you recommend in place of that ? 

A. There should be, of course, a duplicate main laid. I have not 
made an estimate of the cost of doing that, but a main which would deliver 



THE QUINCY CASE. 247 



twice as much as the maximum demand would ever amount to, estimating 
that to be the storage capacity below the pumping station, would be the 
smallest size it would be proper to use. A main 20 inches in diameter would 
be a proper and suitable size. I have not estimated the cost of that main, 
because that would not increase the capacity of the source — the primary 
source — although it would help out the pumping machinery and increase 
the delivering capacity of the mechanical part of the system. It would add 
nothing to the income of the plant. Now, the pumping station — shall I go 
on? 

Cross-Examination. 

O. Can you tell what you said ? 

A. Yes, I think 1 criticised the size of the pipe. 

O. I mean as to material ? 

A. I think further that I compared that particular pipe with standard 
cast-iron. I have no doubt I said it was first-rate wrought-iron pipe. It is 
as good as can be bought, and I have no doubt I had that in view when I 
said that. 

O. Have you made any special investigation as to that pipe since that 
hearing ? 

A. I have ; yes, sir ; I have investigated the record of that pipe 
throughout the country at large since that hearing. 

O. Have you made any examination of the pipe ? 

A. I have ; yes, sir. 

O. Have ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

O. Since that hearing ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where ? 

A. Ouincy, on the 3d of April, 1893. 

O. This last April ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What examination did you make of the pipe in 1893 in April ? 

A. Well, I found the pipe exposed ; it was exposed at my request at 
five or six different places. I examined it in detail ; got down in the trench 
and scraped it. 

O. Have you given any description in your direct examination of this 
examination ? 

A. Nothing more than a reference to it. 

O. I mean in your direct examination this morning? 

A. Nothing more than a reference to it ; I have no description of it ; I 
referred to it. 

Q. You haven't described what you found ? 

A. No, sir ; I am ready to, though. 

Q. You have described two or three instances where you have seen 
some wrought-iron pipe and given a description of what you saw. One was 
at Wakefield. When was that ? 

A. In 1883. 

Q. How long a piece of pipe was that ? 

A. I think the samples were about 8 or 10 inches long. 



248 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Q. How large was the pipe ? 

A. I think they had five or six samples which ran from 4 to 10 inches. 

O. How many samples of wronght-iron pipe did you have at Wake- 
field ? 

A. I don't know ; not less than four ; I should say not less than four 
or more than six. 

O. Was that pipe made by the National Tube Works Company ? 

A. Yes. 

O, You think there were from four to six specimens ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have described what you did with them, then you threw them 
out in the grass ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Did you examine them after you had thrown them out in the grass ? 

A. Yes. 

O. What examination did you make ? 

A. Simply rolled them over with my foot and noticed they were cov- 
ered with rust. 

O. Noticed they were covered with rust ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Did you examine the rust to see what it was that was on the pipe r 

A. I think not particularly in that case. 

O. You then spoke about some pipe which you saw at Dover, New 
Hampshire ? 

A. Yes. 

O. When was that ? 

A. That was in about midsummer in 1888. 

O. Do you know of your own knowledge who made that pipe you saw 
in Dover ? 

A. No, I do not. 

O. Do you know anything as to how it was made except that it was 
wrought-iron ? 

A. Well, it was some such pipe, and it had a coating ; it appeared 
different from the ordinary wrought-iron pipe, though what attracted my 
attention to it was the quality of coating on it. 

O. What the coating was, you did not know ? 

A. I did not. 

Q. And others did not know ? 

A. No, except it was black and smooth in places. 

O. Black and smooth coating ? 

A. Yes. 

O. How much of the pipe did you see ? 

A. Well, we crossed it with our trenches, not over 15, 18 or 20 feet in 
all was uncovered. 

Q. Did you take the pipe out ? 

A. Yes, the pieces were cut and taken up ; we cut a piece out, passed 
it with our new pipe and laid it on the bank. 

Q. Did you take it out for the purpose of examination ? 

A. No ; because it was in the way. 

Q. Did you make any examination ? 



THE QUINCY CASE. 249 



A. I did ; yes, sir. 

Q. With a view to determining its quality ? 

A. With a view to determining its condition rather, yes. 

O. You make a distinction between its condition and quality ? 

A. Yes, I want to know the condition first, then I can tell the quality. 

Q. What did you find its condition to be ? 

A. Well, badly rusted on the outside and covered with tubercles on the 
inside. 

O. Where did you make that examination ? 

A. Right in the trench. 

O. What became of it ? 

A. I don't know ; it was carted off with the other refuse. 

Q. How long were you inspecting its condition ? 

A. That particular piece ? 

O. Yes, if you have a particular piece in mind. 

A. Well, perhaps three minutes. 

O. Three minutes' inspection. Did you inspect any other piece ? 

A. This second piece. These pieces were in two different locations. 

O. How long after you inspected the first did you inspect the second 
piece? 

A. Ten minutes. 

O. How long did you devote to that ? 

A. Two or three minutes. 

Q. Was it carried off with the rest ? 

A. I suppose so ; yes, sir. 

O. Did you make any other inspection ? 

A. Of that piece ? I made two inspections only. One of each piece. 

Q. Then you made no further inspection? 

A. No, sir. 

O. And you have given the inspection ? You didn't know who made 
that pipe, where it came from, except that it was wrought-iron pipe, with a 
black and smooth coating? 

A. Yes, and a tin covering under it — a bright covering under it. 

O. Bright covering under it ? 

A. Yes. 

O. You saw that yourself? 

A. Yes. 

Q. A bright covering and a black covering all over this pipe ? 

A. No. Where I didn't discover rust I discovered the covering, but 
rust had taken it off. 

Q. How many places did you examine on this pipe to see whether 
there was a bright covering under the black covering in those two minutes 
or three minutes ? 

A. I will tell you what I did, and you can judge. I took my knife and 

scraped it back and forth in two or three places, perhaps ten or twelve 
inches long — scraped it to get down to the metal. 

Q. Anybody with you when you did that ? 

A. Yes ; I think the superintendent of the works. 

Q. Was he an expert in the matter ? 



250 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. Not the superintendent, but I should say foreman — contracter. Yes, 
he had experience, and he has handled a great deal of pipe. 

O. He was there ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What is his name ? 

A. Doherty, I think. 

Q. Where is Doherty now ? 

A. In State Prison. 

Q. I thought so. The third specimen was at Ware, Mass.? 

A. Yes. 

O. When was that examination ? 

A. Well, I think in 1891 — '90 or '91. 

Q. Do you know of your own knowledge who made that pipe that you 
saw at Ware ? 

A. I do not ; no, sir. 

Q. Whereabouts exactly did you see it ? 

A. It was on the pumping station grounds somewhere with a lot of 
other pipes, 

O. In the ground ? 

A. No, lying in a heap. 

O. How much of this wrought-iron pipe was there there ? 

A. Well, I think this was a short piece stuck into a cast-iron sleeve. 
It attracted my attention because it looked like an odd thing they had pulled 
up somewhere. It might have been a foot long. 

Q. You found a piece of wrought-iron pipe in a cast-iron sleeve ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. You say it was welded in ? 

A. No ; leaded in. This was after it had been taken out. 

O. Where it came from, who made it, what it was designed for, you 
didn't know ? 

A. I understood it came from a main which the town had laid to 
furnish water to its fire engines before the water works were built, a sort of 
a leading main or suction main. 

Q. This was on a junk heap ? 

A. Yes; part of the pipe was bad, and it was not all junk ; it was a 
scrap heap. 

Q. How long did you inspect it ? 

A. Enough to turn it over and look at it. 

O. How much time did you devote to it ? 

A. Perhaps 30 seconds. 

O. Did you cut into it ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. That was the Ware inspection ? 

A. That was Ware, yes — an accidental inspection. 

Q. As far as any inspection of the pipe is concerned, these three in- 
stances together with what you say you saw at Quincy in April constitute 
your experience in the matter, don't they, as far as any actual inspection 
of pipe is concerned ? 

A. Except what little I have done in my office. I have some samples 
in my office which I scrape occasionally to see if they are right. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 251 



Q. How often do you scrape those ? 

A. When I happen to think of it. One I use for a paper weight, and 
it is pretty well scraped. I do not attach much importance to that. 

O. The scraping in your office you do not attach much importance to ? 
A. No, sir. 

Re-Direct Examination. 

Q. ( By Mr. Cotter. ) Do you know of any other company or concern 
manufacturing or furnishing this Kalamein pipe other than the National 
Tube Works ? 

A. I do not ; no, sir. 



Afternoon Session. 
J. Herbert Shedd, Resumed. 

Q. (By Mr. Cotter.) One question which I understand was forgotten 
or omitted, and Mr. Goulding says this may be as convenient time as any 
to put it. I did not ask you in regard to the pipes, I am so informed, of the 
distribution system, the pipes which you found in Ouincy. 

A. The quality of the pipes? 

Q. Yes, the quality of the pipes, and your opinion of them. Is the 
pipe suitable for the system, this Kalamein pipe ? I should like to have 
you state your views in regard to that pipe. 

A. I am not very familiar with that pipe. I have seen it laid some- 
what. It was laid in Wilkesbarre, Penn., where I saw it. But I regard it 
as a suspicious pipe. If the coating could be insured to be complete, I 
suppose it would be a good pipe, but wrought-iron pipe unprotected would 
be entirely unfit, and the question would be solely upon the character of 
the protection. What I have seen of the pipe leads me to suppose — I have 
seen pipes that the coating had disappeared in small areas from, from the 
surface, and it is liable to do so, I think, for a considerable extent. So far 
as the coating disappears, then the wrought-iron is liable to be attacked 
very rapidly, more rapidly in certain cases than in others. Certain kinds of 
water will have a much more rapid effect in destroying wrought-iron 
pipe than other waters. I have known wrought-iron pipe put in new, 
where moderately warm water was used through it, to be entirely destroyed 
within a year. On the other hand I have known it to last several years 
without protection. This, it seems to me, is liable to fail — last for quite a 
little time, and then perhaps fail. 

Q. Is it a pipe that you would recommend? 

A. From my present knowledge it is not a pipe that I would use. 

Cross-ExaminaTion. 

Q. (By Mr. Goulding.) Do you undertake to say that you know that 
there is no process of coating wrought-iron pipe so that it will be as good 
as cast-iron pipe ? 

A. I don't know that I got your question. If it is whether I do know 
of a process of coating so that it will be as good as cast-iron pipe, I will say 
I don't know. 



252 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



O. I did not ask you that question. 

A. Then I misunderstood. 

O. I don't want you to tell what you don't know. I ask you if you 
say that you know that there is no process of coating wrought-iron pipe so 
that it shall be as safe and as good in every respect as cast-iron pipe? 

A. I will say that I do not know that that is so. 

O. Do you know anything about the process used by the National 
Tube Works in coating this pipe ? 

A. Not by personal investigation. 

O. You have never seen it done ? 

A. Not at the works. I have seen the pipes made at the works, and 
Mr. — not Coolidge, but the man who used to be a dry goods dealer here, 
who was manager, explained to me how it was done. 

O. {By Mr. Cotter.) Mr. Converse, was it? 

A. Mr. Converse. 

O. {By Mr. Goulding.) Where was it where you say you saw a pipe 
where the coating had disappeared in small areas ? 

A. One of your specimens that you brought here showed tubercles on 
the inside of the pipe. 

O. Whereabouts ? 

A. One of the 4-inch pipes that you brought in here. Tubercles were 
shown. 

O. Where did you see it — since this hearing began ? 

A. Yes ; in the other room. 

O. Do you know which specimen it was ? 

A. It was one that was 4-inch in diameter ; that is the one. Then 
there were some at the yards which showed in a small way. 

Q. When did you see that in the yard ? 

A. This last fall ; in the yard in Ouincy. 

O. Do you remember any particular piece that you can describe ? 

A. No, I don't think 1 could describe any particular piece. 

O. How large an area was it in which the coating had disappeared ? 

A. Oh, the areas were not large ; as I remember, from half an inch to 
an inch in diameter. 

O. Could you tell what had caused it to disappear ? 

A. No, I could only tell that the building up of tubercles there was 
the same as would be built upon uncovered pipe. 

Q. The building up of tubercles ? 

A. On the surface of the pipe. 

Q. Well, I don't know but that answers indirectly my inquiry. 
Could you tell what the cause was of the removal of that small area of 
coating? 

A. I have an opinion about it, but I don't know that I know what 
caused it. 

O. Half an inch in diameter, did you say ? 

A. The smallest I should say might be a half inch in diameter. 

Q. What is the largest ? 

A. About an inch ; perhaps several of them. 

O. How many areas did you see of an inch in diameter ? 

A. Well, not many ; a few ; perhaps three or four. 



THE QUINCY CASE. 253 



Judge Bennett : Was the sample in court that he referred to ? 

Mr. Goulding : No, sir ; I have not seen it yet myself. 

The Witness : In that particular sample the areas, I think, were rather 
small. They might have been about half an inch. 

O. That is, the one that was in court ? 

A. Yes, the 4-inch. I think there was in that pipe — as I remember 
it now, I should think there might have been three or four spots in that 
pipe. 

O. In the inside ? 

A. On the outside. 

O. How near to the ends ? 

A. Well, one of them, perhaps, within a few inches of the end, and 
the others farther in. I should saj- the pipe was two feet long ; perhaps a 
little more. I don't remember that there was another 4-inch sample that 
you brought in. 



July 18, 1883. 
Closing Argument of Hon. George D. Robinson. 

May it please the Commissioners : 

Prior to April 30, 1892, the City of Quincy owned no. property of the 
character we are to consider ; on that date the city became the holder and 
the owners of a large amount of property of considerable value. 

Then we come to the question of the pipes iu general. There is a pipe 
system, it has been laid now, largely, nine years, been put under pressure, 
used for fire service, and it has a record already made in these ten years. 
The company not only investigated the matter at the outset, as is told us in 
the evidence of gentlemen who are compentent, such men as Mr Gray, Mr. 
Allen, Mr. Hall and Mr. Taylor— I think they all went to McKeesport to 
examine the manufacture of the pipe, and they came here and told you all 
about it, and we have brought here not only their testimony, but that of 
those who manufacture the pipe to tell you all about its introduction in dif- 
ferent parts of the country, the use which has been made of it, the purposes 
it has been used for ; and if there is any weakness that is disclosed beyond 
that of the merest suspicion founded on nothing, I must say that I have yet 
to hear it. One thing is certain, that it has a complete record and stands 
well to this hour. Another thing is certain, that if there were any defici- 
encies, any imperfections or anything serious the matter with that pipe, this 
city has had over a year to find it out and to report it to you. Have they 
shown you anything ? Samples have been brought here, and when subjected 
to examination and test, they failed utterly to discredit the pipe. They al- 
lude darkly to what Mr. Gleason, a witness whom they brought here and 
who is now in the employ of the city, might say if he wanted to, but Mr. 
Gleason said he had nothing to say. I hope there is no assumption that the 
Water Company have anything to do with Mr. Gleason. Then there is an- 
other point that is worthy of great attention, and that is that in this alloy 
which is used to coat this pipe, there is certainly nothing deleterious to 
public health. If the searching analysis of a chemist would have disclosed 
anything about that pipe indicating poison or danger to the human system, 



254 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



this city, with all its alertness and vigor, would have produced it before you. 
So that we have a pipe there which is put in, put in all said, at more cost than 
cast-iron now, of greater value, have had an experience there of nine years, and 
in other parts of the country tested and proved by the test of use, we have a 
pipe here against which nothing whatever can be said except that these 
eminent gentlemen don't know about it. It is not used here, but a man as 
frank as Mr. Gray says, ' ' I am satisfied from my examination of it that it 
ought to be used, and I purpose to use it." My friend who made the argu- 
ment in favor of the city, said that this pipe was called Kalamein pipe be- 
cause a Greek word was in it. It was so long ago I learned anything about 
Greek it has passed out of my mind, but I believe it comes from the Greek 
word kelos, which means beautiful, and I am under great obligation to my 
most excellent friend in this case for supplying the root of the word. 
"Beautiful," says my brother Morse; " durable," says brother Gouldiug. 
And it does come — I recall it now, and so will my friend, from the other Greek 
word that means to remain and to endure. So that the word is well chosen, 
as its history shows ; it is beautiful to look at, it is as durable as the granite 
of Quincy. 

Mr. Morse : It is capital, it was well chosen to advertise the pipe. 

Mr. Robinson : And the preamble is abundantly sustained by what fol. 
lows ; it not only promises good work in its youth, but in the vortex of mis- 
representation it is brighter, better, more beautiful, more permanent, and 
long after we are defunct the people of Quincy will bless somebody for put- 
ting it in there. * * * 

Now, there is depreciation, and these estimates also vary by the differ- 
ent gentlemen in different amounts. Some of them would discard the 
whole of the 2-inch pipe ; some others would discard as well all the 4-inch 
pipe. But the 2-inch pipe will pay for itself before it will be necessary to 
remove it. As the fire part of the system, the 4-inch pipe is not disapproved 
by the city, because it has repeated it. The value for putting in the work as 
in contemplation, the cast-iron pipe ; and Mr. Howland says that that 
would cost 126,234.13 less in 1892 than the Kalamein pipe. Now, that is an 
item to be considered, because the Kalamein pipe is there, without any dis- 
credit upon it, and the company justly claims what belongs to them. 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, \ 
Norfolk ss. Supreme Judicial Court. \ 

City of Quincy Ptr. \ 

vs. > 

Quincy Water Company. ) 

Award of Commissioners. 

We, the undersigned Commissioners appointed by this Honorable Court 
in the above-entitled cause, to determine the compensation to be paid by the 
said City of Quincy to the said Quincy Water Company, for the franchise, 
corporate property and all the rights and privileges of said corporation, as 
by the warrant of this Honorable Court, herewith returned will appear have 
met and viewed the premises, and heard the parties and their counsel and 



THE QUINCY CASE. 255 



witnesses, on sundry days between December 3, 1892, and July 18, 1893, and 
have duly considered the proofs and arguments, and we do award and finally 
determine, concerning all the matters submitted to tis that the compensa- 
tion to be paid by said city to said corporation, for said franchise, corporate 
property and rights and privileges is the sum of five hundred and fifteen 
thousand six hundred and forty dollars and seven cents ($515,640.07) with 
interest from April 30th, 1892. 

Said sum is the amount of our valuation, to wit : $525,427.60 after 
adding the sum of $1,121.69 collected by said city for account of corporation, 
and deducting the sum of $10,909.22 collected by said corporation for account 
of said city, as requested and agreed to by the parties. It appeared in evi- 
dence before us that said property of said corporation is subject to a mortgage 
to secure bonds amounting to $250,000, and this award contemplates the 
giving of a clear title to said franchise, corporate property and rights and 
privileges, free of all incumbrances, liens and charges. 

The fees and expenses of the Commissioners are thirty-eight hundred 
and fifty dollars ($3,850). The Commissioners award that this sum be paid 
by the said City of Quincy, the parties having left this subject to our 
decision. 

(Signed) John Lowell, 

Edmund H. Bennett, 
Charles W. Clifford. 



THE QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, WATER COMPANY 
SELLS ITS PLANT TO THE CITY OF QUINCY FOR $515,000. 
The Ouincy Water Company, of Ouincy, Massachusetts, has received 
an award of $515,000 for their property and plant from the city of Ouincy. 

The commissioners appointed by the court to make the award are the 
first of the kind ever appointed in the State of Massachusetts. We believe 

this plan is a better one than to bring the issue before the court direct. * 

* * * 

It is stated that the Water Company had been in possession of its prop- 
erty but eight years when the city of Quincy asked that the works be turned 
over to them, the charter under which the company did business giving the 
right to the city to purchase and assume possession at any time. 

The city authorities are said to be satisfied with the terms of purchase. 
That being the case it ends all controversy. — Fire and Water, September 2, 
1893- 

RED BLUFF, CALIFORNIA. 

Red Bluff, Cal., Feb. 27th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Having used a large amount of lap-welded water pipe in our works at 
this place and in Chico, for the past two years, we take pleasure in testify- 
ing to our entire satisfaction with this pipe. We have had no trouble with 
our water mains where this pipe was used, and everything up to this date is 
in good order. 

(Signed) Sierra Flume Lumber Co., Per Lyon. 



256 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. 

Mr. Robert Cartwright, Engineer of the Rochester, (N. Y.,) 
Super-Heated Water Company, voluntarily wrote us on January 
18th, "89, in answer to a letter sending him illustrations of the 
Converse Patent Lock Joint, as follows: 

/ am much pleased with the Converse Joint and after an experience in 
building in various cities and towns some thirty-four gas and water works, 
requiring uiany hundreds of miles of mains, I frankly say / think you have 
the best joint I ever saw. You have reduced laying to the minimum, and in 
a simple mechanical manner, still retaining the best joint that can be laid, 
viz : a lead joint. 

Mr. Cartwright further wrote us from Rochester, N. Y., 
October 31st, '89, as follows: 

Since writing you in relation to the 4-foot steel pipe required by the 
West Jersey Water Company, the City of Newark, N. J., sent Mr. Jacobson, 
their City Engineer, up here to examine and report upon the 36 inch 
wrought-iron (riveted) main, thirteen miles in length ; laid by our works 
fifteen years ago, ( 1874. ) I went with him over the line, with the men hav- 
ing charge of it. We uncovered the pipe where it had been covered when 
laid and found it as perfectly protected as when put down. It is covered 
with Dr. Smith's asphalt preparation. The main is 5-16 inch thick. Mr. 
Herschel has proposed the steel welded main and this visit was made to 
satisfy the Mayor of Newark, who was not altogether convinced as to the 
advisability of using anything but cast-iron. 

Mr. Herschel, the Engineer of the West Jersey Water Com- 
pany, is a firm believer in wrought-iron and steel and has recom- 
mended their use by the city of Newark, N. J. 



SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA. 

San Bernardino, Cal. , January 22nd, 1890. 
Albuquerque Water Company, Albuquerque, N.M. : 

How have you been pleased with the Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe 
used in your water system ? Did you use any of the pipe with a Kalamein 
coat? If so, how does Kalamein pipe, from your experience with it, with- 
stand the action of alkali and other salts contained in your soil ? 
(Signed) F. C. Finkxe, 

Engineer and Supt. City Water Works. 



ALBUQUERQUE, N. M., January 27th, 1890. 
F. C. Finkle, Esq., San Bernardino, Cat. 

Replying to yours of the 22d inst , I wish to state that when our works 
were built we laid 6}4, miles of the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe and 
have lately laid \yi miles more of the same kind. A critical examination 
having failed to show any internal and external corrosion, I can say that, in 
our experience with it, it has given perfect satisfaction. 
(Signed) C. J. Stetson, 

Supt. Albuquerque Water Co. 



KALAMEIN PIPE SUPERIOR TO CAST-IRON. 257 



San Bernardino, Cae., July nth, 1890. 
Geo. F. Wool stem, Esq., City Engineer, Helena, Mont. 

Will you please give me your opinion of Kalamein pipe, based upon 
your experience with sanie. Does it, in your estimation, compare favorably 
with first-class cast-iron pipe ? 

Trusting to hear from you at your earliest convenience, I remain, 

(Signed) Jas. B. Pope, Civil and Hydraulic Engineer. 



Helena, Mont., August 25th, 1S90. 
J. B. Pope, C. and H. E., San Bernardino, Cat. 

Your favor of July nth just reached me on my return from New York. 
In answer to your inquiry, I will say I have used a large amount of Kala- 
mein pipe. I have also used a considerable amount of cast pipe. The 
Kalamein is more easily handled, less liable to break in handling, more 
cheaply laid, requires less lead, and will deliver about 10 per cent, more 
water under a given pressure and same conditions than cast pipe, on account 
of the smooth interior surface of the former. It will stand much more 
tensile strength. I had on the test at my works here seven bursts of cast 
pipe under a pressure of 207 pounds. I replaced five of them with Kalamein 
pipe of the ordinary thickness and did not have a burst. As to its durability, 
which is really the only point to be considered, as in all other points, 
Kalamein is superior, I have never known of its rusting out. I have used 
it in all kinds of soil and material. I have take it out where common 
wrought pipe was eaten through, and found it clean and bright. W. A 
Clarke, of Butte, Mont. , took some out that had been laid some six years, 
and it was perfect, while ordinary pipe was eaten through. The soil around 
Butte is strongly impregnated with acids, which are great enemies to pipe. 
Taking it all in all, I am well pleased with Kalamein pipe, and can recom- 
mend it. 

(Signed) Geo. F. Wooeston, C. E. 



Food for Reflection. 



In every community there are plenty of fossilized kickers, who, by 
their talk and actions, hold down progress and prevent improvement. 
These chronic old cranks (they are not all old either) never had the satisfac- 
tion of taking part in the administration of public affairs, and hence realize 
nothing of the perplexities which attend the honor of official life. Their 
sole appreciation of public affairs is to sit around and kick. If they can't 
find a reason for kicking, they work up their dilapidated old brains and 
stretch their imaginations up to a fanciful condition of evil belief, and then 
tell their plaintive story of heavy taxation and wilful extravagance of public 
funds, and so create a dissatisfaction. This applies generally, not locally in 
particular, for of late the enterprising citizens of San Bernardino have sat 
down upon these cranks and allowed the spirit of progress to have full sway. 
But there are a few left, and just now, while the work of improvement is 
going ahead, we want to give them a little rub and show that in one instance 
they have been so badly " off " that their grumblings will in the future be 
listened to with disdain. 



258 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Since the work of building a water system has been going on, not a few 
of these growling grumblers have had too much to say, attacking by inu- 
endo the Trustees, City Engineer, contractors, manufacturers and everybody 
else who has had anything to do with the system. The Courier has always 
stood up for the system being put in here, and believed from what we could 
see and learn that the Trustees had adopted the best system to be had. 
Such has been our conviction, and we are honest in stating that we believe 
the Trustees have been right throughout, as facts and figures bear us out. 
There has been more or less talk about the use of Kalamein pipe, objections 
being offered by parties as to its durability, resistance, manufacture, etc., 
and we take great pleasure in publishing the following extract regarding it 
from the report of James D. Schuyler, the well-known engineer, made to 
the Council of San Diego, which city is about to vote $400,000 bonds for 
water works, or rather for piping the place. There will be over 60 miles of 
pipe line and something over 40 miles will be the Kalamein, the balance 
being of sheet steel, the same as our conduit. Of the Kalamein, he says : 

"Air the remaining pipe is designed to be of the class known as the 
Converse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein pipe, which is a wrought-iron lap- 
welded pipe, coated with an alloy of non-corrosive metals — lead, tin and 
nickel. This pipe is rapidly coming into public favor, even in the East, 
where its cost is greater, as a competitor of cast-iron pipe, because of its 
greater strength, ability to withstand the sudden shock of water-hammer 
without bursting, to withstand settlement without leaking, as well as on 
account of its greater carrying capacity. The smoothness of its interior 
finish presents less friction, and this smoothness is always maintained, how- 
ever long it may be used, whereas cast-iron is subject to interior corrosion 
that greatly reduces its diameter, the velocity of flow and consequent 
capacity. On this coast this grade of pipe is considerably cheaper than 
cast-iron on account of freight, although its first cost in the East is greater." 

Mr. Schuyler is one of the ablest engineers on the coast, and in his 
report throughout he recommends just such a system as we are now building 
in San Bernardino. Such an endorsement should be highly satisfactory to 
the citizens of this place and settle any dissatisfaction which may have been 
created. 

San Bernardino will have one of the best water systems on the Pacific 
slope, and the general opinion of the taxpayers is one of confidence. We 
are glad to publish Mr. Schuyler's endorsement, because he is an authority 
in such matters, and the Courier hopes to see the people all satisfied with 
their investments in the water system. — Editorial, San Bernardino Courier, 
Aug list 24, 1890. 



San Bernardino, Cal., February 18th, 1891. 
T. W. Brooks, Esq., Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co., San Francisco, Cat. 
I have felt that it was my duty ever since I completed and tested the 
water works for the City of San Bernardino, to let you know something 
about what the result has been, and it was through yourself, acting as the 
representative of the above firm, that we purchased the Kalamein pipe of 
which the street mains were laid. When the whole pressure was turned on 
at the test last October there was only one leak discovered on the whole 20 



FRICTION— HYDRANT TEST. 259 



miles of Kalamein mains, and that was so slight that one tap of the hammer 
stopped it ; and up to this date there has not been another leak discovered. 

At the test, four streams were thrown simultaneously from two hy- 
drants, both hydrants being on the same main, within 300 feet of each other, 
and by a transit observation I determined that the streams were all ascend- 
ing at the same time no feet vertically into the air. The pressure, which 
was 100 pounds before the streams were turned on, almost remained sta- 
tionary while the streams were playing for half an hour to the height of 
no feet perpendicularly into the air, not sinking lower than 94^ pounds at 
any time during the time which the streams were being thrown. A horizontal 
test was then made with the four streams from the same hydrants as above 
and the water was thrown 200 feet down the street from the end of the 
nozzles. The nozzles used were all iVjMnch. It is certain that a finer display 
never was made by any water works in Southern California, and I doubt if on 
the Pacific coast. F. A. Harnden, Surveyor of the Pacific Insurance Union, 
for whose benefit the same test was made afterwards, said that it beat any- 
thing he had seen in the water works line in California. I must admit that 
I was surprised to obtain better results from Kalamein pipe, which is made 
with outside diameters, than I had ever obtained from cast-iron pipe of the 
same size under like conditions, when the cast pipe had a net inside diameter 
equal to the outside diameter of the Kalamein pipe. The only way in which 
I can explain this fact is on the ground that the Kalamein pipe is so much 
smoother than cast pipe and presents less frictional resistance to the water 
passing through it. 

I do not notice any tendency in our mains towards tuberculation and I 
think that your system of Kalameining, which does not allow the pipe to 
rust like the bare iron coated with coal tar varnish, is going to overcome 
this universal cause of complaint against wrought-iron pipes. 

We have done considerable tapping the last four or five months, and 
have not had any trouble with leaky taps at all. I make a practice of using 
sheet lead under the service clamp and leaving it extending out about 1% 
inches around the clamp when screwing it up. After the clamp is tightened 
I calk this lead up with a thin tool all around the clamp. 

I had occasion to put on a tap for a sprinkling hydrant to load water- 
carts, into a 4-inch main, and although the tap was \ l / z inches I had no 
trouble with it, and it did not appear to weaken the 4-inch main in the least. 

The people here are more than satisfied with the works, and I can also 
say that the works are performing better than I had expected or predicted to 
the City Council. 

(Signed) F. C. Finkxe. 

Chief Engineer of Water Works. 



SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA. 

San Francisco, Cai,., March 3d, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiries as to my opinion of your lap-welded pipe t 
I have to say that I have a couple of miles of 6, 5 and 4-inch pipe in use at 
my Jersey Farm Dairy, San Bruno, at a pressure of from three to four hun- 
dred feet, for the past few years, and is now in good and substantial order, 
having withstood the heat and cold of that climate, together with the ex- 



260 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



treme pressure, remarkably well. The small expense incidental to laying 
it is much in its favor. 

The Sierra Flume & Lumber Co., at Red Bluff and Chico, Cal., used a 
large quantity, at my suggestion, as being superior in points of cost and 
durability, and I know that it has given that company entire satisfaction. 
(Signed) R. G. Sneath. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. 

San Francisco, Cai v ., Feb. 21st, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have been using the lap-welded pipe I purchased of you for water 
mains for the past six months, and it has given me perfect satisfaction in 
every respect. I find that two men can lay one thousand feet per day with 
ease, and it can be tapped with very little trouble and joints and connections 
quickly made. I have no hesitation in sayiug that for conveying water it is 
the best pipe I have ever used, and cheerfully recommend it to any one 
needing a really good article of pipe. 

(Signed) W. B. Broadbury. 

San Francisco, Cai,., Dec. 3rd, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In relation to the 4000 and odd feet of 4-inch and 5 inch Converse Joint 
Pipe laid at Jersey Farm this season, I have to say that I am much pleased 
with it, on account of its prospective durability, and ease, perfection and 
economy in laying it with ordinary farm laborers. 

I found it preferable to lead and calk the joints on the surface of the 
field, and then bend it to suit the conformation of the land and dig the trench 
for it alongside and drop in the pipe as the work progressed ; by which 
means it does not require much calculation as to the extent the pipe will 
bend without fracture. 

(Signed) R. G. Sneath, 

City Manager, San Bruno, Cal. 



San Francisco, Cal., Dec. 3rd, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Referring to your inquiries in regard to the Converse Joint Pipe, we are 
pleased to report that it has given perfect satisfaction and we have used it 
for the last five years, never having had any trouble with it. 

(Signed) Dynde & Hough. 

We quote the following extract from a letter written by T. 
W. Brooks, water works engineer in the employ of the Dunham, 
Carrigan & Hayden Co., San Francisco, Cal. : 

During the last three months I have visited every town and city of 
importance in Oregon, Washington and the west coast of British Columbia, 
and wherever I found Converse Joint Pipe in use I have taken particular 
pains to learn what service and satisfaction it has been giving. I was very 
anxious to learn the condition of the pipe, so that I could make truthful 



CONVERSE JOINT PIPE ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY. 261 



assertions when urging the use of the pipe and talk with confidence when 
battling with competitors. In every case that I have investigated I find that 
where the pipe is Kalameiued and asphalted, it is in the best condition and 
good repute with individual companies and municipalities using it. 



San Francisco, Cae., Dec. 4th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are exceedingly well pleased with the Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 
The ease of laying, economy of labor and lead make it preferable to cast- 
iron pipe. 

We shall give it the preference every time, and think others will when 
once tried. 

(Signed) Alameda Sugar Co., 

E. C. Burr, Prest. 

San Francisco, Cae., December 6th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Referring to yours of the 4th inst., I will say that we are using your 
Converse Joint Pipe at our different mines in California, Arizona and 
Mexico, and in every case it has given us splendid satisfaction, being easily 
and readily laid, and not requiring any further attention after being once in 
place. For permanent use in conducting water, or for standing a heavy 
pressure, I prefer it to any other pipe in use. 

(Signed) T. Gilson, Manager. 

San Francisco, Cai,., Dec. 14th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The Converse Lock Joint pipe purchased of your firm several months 
ago is being used as a pump line for salt water. The method of joining 
was found convenient and satisfactory. The pipe so far shows no signs of 
corrosion, and we are very well pleased with it. 

(Signed) The California Powder Works. 



San Francisco, Cae., December 1SU1, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It affords me great pleasure to state, in answer to your favor of the 2nd 
inst., that the Converse Joint Pipe, several thousand feet of which were 
ordered by me some years ago, for the Edge Hill Vineyard in Napa County, 
has given entire satisfaction. 

(Signed) WlEElAM SCHEFFLER. 



San Francisco, Cae. , Dec, 19th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry of the 3rd inst., regarding the Converse Joint 
Pipe you supplied us with some five years ago, we beg to say that it has given 
us excellent satisfaction, and we doubt if there is anything better in the 
market, for the purpose we have put it to. 

(Signed) Thos. A. MiEEER, Sec'y Starr & Co. 



262 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



SALIDA, COLORADO. 

SAiyiDA, Colorado, July 14th, 1883. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The wrought-iron pipes, fitted with the Converse Patent Lock Joint, 
used for mains in 1882, sold by you through Messrs. Russell & Alexander, 
contractors, have given perfect satisfaction. 

We have not had one leak in the pipe from the pressure, although it is a 
high pressure, and in answer to your letter as to the pipe, I cheerfully say 
that I am satisfied this is the best pipe and joint manufactured, so far as my 
experience extends. 

(Signed) S. C. WESTEREIELD, Mayor of Salida, Col. 



To-day in company with Mr. J. E. Ford, the gentlemanly superintendent 
of construction of our water works, we visited the head of the works on a 
tour of inspection, and found that everything had been done in first-class 
style and workmanlike manner. * * * 

The water was turned on last Saturday and a thorough test made when 
it was shown that the pipes and joints were all solid and not a leak could be 
found. The fire company attached the hose and made a test of the pressure, 
and found that with a nozzle i^-inch they could throw a stream 65 feet 
high. 

The work has given great satisfaction, and Messrs. Russell & Alexander, 
our city fathers, and especially Mr. J. E. Ford, the genial superintendent, 
deserve the praise of our entire people for the complete success they made 
of our water works. — From the Daily Sentinel, Salida, Col., September 
19, 1882. 

It gives the "Montana Mail " much pleasure to announce that Salida's 
water works are now in running order. On Saturday last the work of lay- 
ing the pipe was completed and the water turned in. The preliminary test 
made at the time satisfied the contractors that everything would be all right. 

Monday afternoon arrangements were made for a test in the presence of 
the Mayor and the Town Board. The hose was attached to the hydrants and 
the water turned on. Under the contract entered into by Russell & Alex- 
ander they agreed to throw two streams of water forty-five feet high from 
nozzles three-fourths of an inch in diameter. At the test two streams were 
thrown from nozzles seven- eighths of an inch in diameter, and thrown thirty 
feet higher than the contract called for. This, together with the fact that 
not a leaky joint had been discovered along the entire line since the water 
was turned in, is sufficient proof that the contractors, Messrs. Russell & 
Alexander, have done their work well. * * * 

The pipe used in the construction of these works is the special lap- 
welded wrought-iron pipe, manufactured by the National Tube Works Com- 
pany, of McKeesport, Pa., and fitted with the Converse Patent Lock Joint. 
The pipe is coated inside and out with asphalt and is far superior to cast-iron 
for strength and durability. The Converse Joint makes the inside of the 
pipe flush, thus insuring the delivery of much greater percentage of water 
than can be delivered with the same size of any other kinds of pipe. That 
the work is well done is due in no small degree to their watchfulness and 



C. J. TESTED WHILE COVERED WITH WATER. 263 

earnest desire to give the people of Salida a perfect system of works. — From 
The Montana Mail, of September ig, 1882, Salida, Col. 



Salida, Colo., October 4th, 1882. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Under our contract with the city we agreed that the streams to be 
thrown should be 45 feet high through two j^-inch nozzles. This we 
did and more too through larger nozzles, the streams thrown through ?/% 
inch nozzles reached a height of 75 feet before it commenced to spray, 
and through 1^ inch nozzles the stream — solid stream — reached a height 
of 65 feet. 

The solid streams thrown exceeded our calculations by 10 or 12 feet, 
which you can place to the credit of your Kalamein pipe. We think there 
is a great difference in favor of your Kalamein pipe over cast-iron in respect 
to friction. Just how much we are not prepared to say. 

Russell & Alexander. 



SALT LAKE, UTAH. 

Greenville, Pa., June 7th, 1895. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M. National Tube Works Co., New York.. 

Early in the present year I was engaged by the Salt Lake & Ogden Gas 
& Electric Company of Salt Take City, Utah, to superintend the laying of a 
6-inch steel line from the New American Gas Company's wells at Take 
Shore to Salt Lake City, a distance of thirteen miles. On arrival I found the 
pipe to be laid was " Converse Joint," and, knowing you will be interested 
in the results attained, I take the liberty of submitting the following : 

This line is laid in the old bed of the great Salt Lake ; consequently, 
when trench was dug, it at once filled with water. We had this amount of 
water over fifty per cent, of the thirteen miles, with a great deal of soft 
loamy ground and quicksand, so much so that I found it necessary to lay 
planks lengthwise of trench in order to get a foundation firm enough to 
support the pipe ; in fact the whole line is blocked to obviate any danger of 
the pipe settling, which would cause it to leak. 

The first test was made when 10,000 feet was laid. It was tested with 
natural gas at a pressure of 200 lbs. to the square inch, and was witnessed 
by the general manager, Mr. Hay ward, and the general superintendent, 
Mr. Kemph. This amount of pipe was practically all covered with water, 
and was, therefore, a very sharp or rigid test, and proved perfectly tight 
under above conditions. Manager Hayward, as well as Superintendent 
Kemph, were highly delighted with the test, having anticipated much 
trouble in being able to build a line over ground that contained so much 
water, soft loam and quicksand. They very kindly expressed their pleasure 
at having overcome that difficult)-, and truthfully remarked that it was a 
much more perfect line than could be made of screwed joint. Necessity 
compelled me to coincide in their opinion when I considered this work had 
all been done by men that never had any knowledge of this kind of work. 



264 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Where trench contained no water, we found no trouble in laying 1,000 feet 
per hour, having laid in nine hours 10,500 feet. 

Any lines of this C. J. pipe that I found leaked at all, I could easily 
trace it to one of the following mechanical faults : 1st, to not being properly 
blocked to avoid its settling ; 2d, to the joint not being fully locked ; 3d, 
the joint not being made by one pouring of lead ; 4th, the joint having 
been calked before the pipe had been weighed with sufficient earth ; 5th 
and last, to imperfect calking. By following these directions, it is very 
easy to make a perfect line with your C. J. in all kinds of soil. 

(Signed) T. L. Garvin, Constructing Engineer. 



SANDWICH, ILLINOIS. 

Sandwich, III., May 12th, 1884. 
Natio7ial Tube Works Co. 

Your inquiry as to how we liked the Kalamein water pipe fitted with 
the Converse Lock Joint, furnished by you last year, is received. In answer 
we can say we are well pleased and perfectly satisfied and can recommend 
its use to any one desiring to put in a perfect water pipe. We have had on 
as high a pressure as 200 pounds to the square inch, and with no injury 
whatever to the pipe or specials. We had no difficulty in laying the pipe, 
and it was done at a very slight expense. We had no difficulty whatever 
in negotiating the sale of our 6 per cent, bonds to pay for our water works 
system, and the bonds sold at par. We are contemplating making some 
extensions this year and shall need more Kalamein pipe. 

(Signed) W. L. Simmons, Mayor. 

L. D. Woodruff, 
Chairman Water Committee. 



Sandwich, III., June 19th, 18S5. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of the 6th, will say that we extended our mains a 
little more than two miles last summer ; used the same pipe as before 
(Kalamein). 

Owing to the smooth surface inside, compared: with cast-iron, I think as 
good results, or perhaps better, are obtained from a five-inch Converse 
Patent Lock Joint pipe, than from a six-inch cast-iron. It is handled and 
put down in ditch much cheaper than the other, as it takes only about two- 
fifths as much lead. 

We have used 300 pounds pressure, and have never burst or injured 
a pipe. 

As to its effects on water, I have never heard a word said against it, and 
many are using the water constantly. My own opinion would be that cast- 
iron would be more apt to give the water an " irony" taste than Kalamein, 
as the inside of the latter is the same as the outside, and would give the 
water no more taste than new tin. 

I am satisfied it is stronger and will stand more pressure than cast-iron 
pipe. 

Now, as to durability. That is the only question in my mind. It is a 



KALAMEIN NOT AFFECTED BY ACID. 265 



comparatively new pipe. We had a physician here try both with strong 
acid, and while it would affect the cast-iron, it would not the Kalamein. I 
am of opinion that Kalamein Pipe is all right. 

(Signed) W. L. Simmons, Mayor. 



Office of City Clerk, \ 
Sandwich, III., June 19th, 1885. ( 

National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your favor of the 18th, will say that so far as we have tested 
the mains furnished us by the National Tube Works Co., we are entirely 
satisfied with them. Before laying them we subjected sections to the severest 
tests that we could devise, including salt and acid tests, and they withstood 
them all perfectly. They are lighter and cheaper than cast-iron, easier to 
lay, being smoother, will carry more water, and we consider them superior 
in all respects to cast-iron. 

The Mayor of this City, who is a practical mechanic, says he has no 
hesitation in recommending these mains as first-class in every respect, 
(Signed) C. C. Jones, Clerk. 



The following letters show the false and futile attempts of 
the cast-iron fraternity to injure the reputation of Converse 
Joint Pipe at Sandwich, 111. 

Sandwich, III., June 20th, 1885. 
A. White, Esq., Geneseo, lit. 

Dear Sir — In reply to yours of the 19th, will say that we extended our 
mains a little more than two miles last Summer, and used the same pipe as 
before (Kalamein). 

Owing to the smooth surface inside, compared with cast-iron, I think as 
good results, or perhaps better, are obtained from a 5-inch Converse Joint 
pipe than from a 6-inch cast-iron pipe. It is handled and put down in ditch 
much cheaper than the other, as it takes only about two-fifths as much lead. 
We have used 300 pounds pressure and have never bursted or injured the 
pipe. 

As to its effects on water, I have never heard a word said against it, and 
many are using the water constantly. My own opionion would be that cast- 
iron would be more apt to give the water an " irony " taste than Kalamein, 
as the inside of the latter is the same as the outside and would give water 
no more taste than new tin. I am satisfied that it is stronger and will stand 
more pressure than cast-iron pipe. 

Now, as to durability, that is the only question in my mind. It is a 
comparatively new thing, and no one can say positively which will last the 
longest under ground. We had a physician here try both with strong acids 
and while it would affect the cast-iron it would not affect the Kalamein. I 
am of the opinion Kalamein is all right. 

(Signed) W. Iv. Simmons, Mayor. 



266 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Office of City Clerk, Sandwich, III., June 20th, 1885. 
/. H. Mitchell, Mayor, Geneseo, III. 

Dear Sir — Replying to your favor of the 18th, will say that so far as 
we have tested the mains furnished us by the National Tube Works Com- 
pany, we are entirely satisfied with them. Before laying them we subjected 
sections to the severest test that we could devise, including salt and acid 
tests and they withstood them all perfectly. They are lighter and cheaper 
than cast-iron, easier to lay, being smoother, will carry more water and we 
consider them superior in all respects to cast-iron. 

I have just consulted the Mayor of this city, who is a practical mechanic 
and he says he has no hesitation in recommending these mains as first-class 
in every respect. 

Any other information that we can give you at any time regarding our 
system will be gladly furnished. 

(Signed) C. C. Jones, Clerk. 



Sandwich, III., December 24th, 18S9. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Gentlemen — I have yours of December 20th, the contents of which 
are considerable of a surprise to me, and I am at a loss to know how such a 
statement in regard to the pipe of our city, furnished by your company, 
ever got out, as it is as far from the truth as it can well get. 

Most of the pipe in our city, as you know, has been down about six 
years, and, as you know, we have had some trouble with it in the last year 
or two, the cause of which I am settled in my mind was that we got originally 
a few lengths of pipe which were imperfect, and which were not thoroughly 
Kalameined. To the best of my knowledge, we have never had any breaks 
except in about a dozen lengths of pipe. These lengths that have slightly 
leaked in several instances have been plugged up, so that we have not as 
yet taken up more than two or three lengths of pipe and replaced same 
with new, which were furnished by your company free of charge. Had we 
put in new lengths of pipe for those in which holes came — replaced with 
new lengths — I don't think we would have had but very little trouble, and 
I think one dozen lengths would replace every length of pipe that has had 
a leak in it. 

I don't know just how many miles of your mains we have in our city, 
but presume you can tell by referring to your books ; however, 12 lengths 
is so small a proportion of the whole that it is not worth mentioning. We 
have every confidence in your pipe. If we had not we certainly should not 
have put in 83 rods more of it this fall. 

We understand that the pipe laid in our city was the first you made, 
and there is nothing very strange that there should have been a few poor 
lengths, and, so far as our observation has gone, everything goes to show 
that what little trouble we have had has come from a very few lengths of 
pipe which seem to have been improperly Kalameined. 

I still think your pipe is the best pipe made for water mains. Our 
people here all over the city are using the water to drink, and it is as pure 
and free from foreign substances at the end of the longest mains as when it 
comes from the well. I have been in the City Council for the past four 



GOOD AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS' SERVICE. 267 



years, and have been in a position to know just what is going on in regard 
to the city water mains. 

Hoping this may assist you to correct the erroneous statements that have 
been made to you, I remain, 

(Signed) E. W. Graves, 

Chairman Fire and Water Committee. 



The following letter is ample reply to some defamatory- 
rumors that have recently been circulated by certain parties 
relating to the Converse Lock Joint pipe that has been in use at 
Sandwich since 1883, to wli - : 

City of Sandwich, Mayor's Office, \ 
Sandwich, III., Oct. 17, 1894. / 
National Tube Works Company, or whom it may concern. 

Some eight or ten years ago this city contracted with the National Tube 
Works Company direct for a system of its Converse Joint Wrought Iron 
pipe, treated by the Kalamein protective process. 

The object of this letter is to state the exact facts in the case and pre- 
vent any injustice being done by falsehoods and rumors started and Tittered 
by designing and interested competitors. 

While it is true that a portion of the pipe, though inconsiderable in 
amount, was not up to the high standard of quality we were led to expect, 
the National Tube Works Company has, at its own expense, replaced such 
pipe as proved below such standard ; and it gives me pleasure, as the Mayor 
of Sandwich, and one thoroughly acquainted with the whole history of the 
case, to state officially that the system as it exists to-day is unquestionably 
equal, if not superior, to any system of water works in the country. 

(Signed) E. W. Graves, Mayor. 

Attest, 

E. F. Eedoyt, Clerk. 



SAN PEDRO, NEW MEXICO. 

San Pedro, N. M., March 16th, 1S93. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., Nezv York City, N. Y. 

I am about to make an offer for the purchase of the pipe in the water 
works system at San Pedro. If I consummate the deal I will take the pipe 
up and ship it to some points wheie I can use it for water works purposes 
again. What will be your price for Specials fitted with your Converse Lock 
Joint ? 

Personally, you may not be aware of some of the details concerning 
this particular line of pipe, but I will state that this pipe is good, and its 
general appearance is as good as when it was put in the ground in 1S80- 
1881. Its coating was simply asphaltum, and it was fitted with the Wiley 
hub, the pipe coming through, and was flanged into the interior of the bell, 
the pipe being expanded back of the bell, the latter being similar to a cast- 
iron pipe bell. The flanging thinned the pipe on the edges, and the 



268 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



expanding also weakened the iron. The expanding back of the bell was 
necessary to prevent the bell from slipping back. I see no mention of the 
San Pedro pipe in your book, and presume it was omitted for the reason 
that it was not fitted with the Converse Lock Joint. 

Mr. Wiley was the engineer who laid the pipe. 

I was on the ground when the pipe was laid, and am, therefore, 
familiar with it. The water is alkali, strongly so. I know that when 
I went there I was taken most terribly sick from drinking the water, 
and I thought my head would go to pieces before I found out what the 
trouble was. To anybody who is not accustomed to that water it will pretty 
near kill them. 

That I am anxious to purchase this pipe, take it up and re-lay it at 
other points, substituting the Converse Lock Joints for the Wiley hubs, is, I 
believe, sufficient proof to you that I am entirely satisfied with the present 
condition of the pipe, although it has been conveying water strongly im- 
pregnated with alkali for some nine or ten years. 

Please make me your lowest price on cars at McKeesport, or Pittsburg, 
for your Special castings fitted with Converse Patent Lock Joint, and also 
your Converse Lock Joint Hubs, the sizes ranging from 4 to 15-inch inclu- 
sive. 

(Signed.) R. J. Renwod. 

P. S. — I shall be at Denver, Colo., about May 1st, and will ask you to 
address me there, say up to May 10th. 

R. J. R. 

Omaha, April 18th, 1893. 
E. C. Converse, Gen, Mgr. Natl. Tube Works, New York. 

Your favor of 4th inst. is before me, and will say briefly that the enter- 
prise I have in hand is one that will yield good returns. It is this : I can 
purchase at a very low price the entire pipe line at San Pedro, N. M., and 
can take it up at a very low cost and by knocking off the bells can ship it 
cheap to some place where it can be used for the same water works purposes. 

The pipe is as good as when I first laid it in the ground about ten years 
ago. 

Other parties who know what the pipe is, are after it. Let me hear 
from you. 

(Signed) S. L. Wil,EY. 

The Municipal Investment Company. | 
Chicago, 2d, May, 1893. f 

National Tube Works Co. 

We have recently purchased at a decided bargain 19^ miles of steel 
pipe now in the ground at San Pedro, New Mexico. It has been lying in the 
ground at San Pedro some nine years, but thorough inspection made by Mr. 
J. M. Howells, C. E-, showed it to be in a remarkable state of preservation. 
He states it is as good as new. It is very strong pipe made for use in 
hydraulic mining. Has over-lapping telescope ends bound with collar and 
sleeve and was, we believe, manufactured by your company. We have use 
for some six miles of this pipe at Santa Fe and for from one to four miles of 
it at Fresno, California, and we may be able to use much more of it at our 



GOOD AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS' SERVICE. 269 



other plants. It was, of course, undesirable to us to be compelled to buy 
the whole of it, but we could not get any part without taking it all and 
paying immediate cash for it which we have done. The remainder of the 
pipe, nearly 13 miles, we have at present no immediate use for, and it has 
suggested itself to us that you might make some use of it, or a part of it at 
least at Las Vegas, or if not there at some other points in the West which 
could be easily reached by shipment from San Pedro. The sizes vary from 
8 to 15 inches, but what we would care to sell is, say, 4 miles of 12-inch, and 
9^ miles of 10 and 11 -inch. 

This pipe we can, of course, afford to sell at a great bargain, but we 
cannot name a definite price at the moment or until Mr Howells goes out to 
Santa Fe again, which will be next week, because we cannot tell what it 
costs to get it up out of the ground and loading it on the cars, nor what the 
freight would be to any point where you might desire to use it. 

We simply beg to say that we would supply the pipe at a great reduc- 
tion below the cost of new pipe, and if you can make profitable use of it 
either at Las Vegas or elsewhere, we would be glad to have you communicate 
with us. 

(Signed) C. H. Coffin, Vice-Pres't. 



Thf Municipal Investment Company. 

Chicago, 10th May, 189 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have yours of May 9th referring to the San Pedro pipe. This pipe 
is all in the ground and most of it will probably remain there until we sell 
it. We are taking up six miles of it at this time for use in our plants. It is 
reported to be about as perfect as when it left the factory, showing little or 
no signs of wear. We were unable to obtain exact particulars as to the 
respective amounts of 10 and 11-inch pipe except that there was 10 miles of 
both sizes. 

We cannot inform you whether the water conveyed through it was im- 
pregnated with alkali or not, but we imagine it was from its location. 

We introduced to you in our office Mr. J. M. Howells, whom we deem 
the most skillful water works engineer in this country. He stated to you, 
in his opinion, the pipe was as good as new. He dug out and inspected it 
at many points. We would be pleased to receive a bid from you for any 
amount of it you may desire to use, delivered at San Pedro or any railroad 
point you may desire ; or if you will give us the name of the place at which 
you would intend to use it, we will write out and procure estimates of cost 
of delivery and freight and submit a proposition to you. 

We are not anxious to sell all of it, as we shall, no doubt, eventually use 
a great deal of it in our Western plants. We are so situated as to be able to 
take satisfactory water works bonds in payment for any amount of it we may 
sell. 

(Signed) C. H. Coffin, Vice-Pres't. 

Some of this pipe was re-shipped to and laid at Fresno, Cal. 
See reference under that heading, page 50. 



270 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



SAN" RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA. 

San RakaeIv, Cae., December 4th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of the 2d inst. , I beg to state that a little over six 
years ago we were induced to try some of the Converse Pipe, and we liked it 
so much that since then we have laid about eleven miles of it, in sizes from 12 
to 5 inches, and have found it a very satisfactory pipe and quite up to the 
high standard which was claimed for it. Of its lasting qualities I cannot 
yet speak, not having had it long enough in use. 

(Signed) Robert Walker, 

President Marin County Water Company. 



Marin County Water Company, ) 

San Rafael, Cae., October 21, 1892. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of October 14th, making inquiry as to the satisfaction the Con- 
verse Patent Lock Joint Kalamein pipe is giving, which you furnished our 
company some time since, is received, and in reply will say, we have over 
11 miles in use ranging from 5 to 12 inches. 

It is giving good satisfaction. 

Usual pressure 80 lbs.; sometimes increased to 150 lbs. 

Number of breaks : One caused by frost. 

Number of leaks : None. 

Annual cost of repairs : Nothing. 

Present condition of the pipe : Good. 

Economy of lead and labor in laying : Very considerable. 

Character of soil : All sand and alkali. 

Internal condition with reference to cleanliness : Good. 

Effect, if any, on water : None whatever. 

Have not had the pipe long enough to make comparisons with cast-iron 
as to durability. 

(Signed) R. Walker, Prest. 



SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. 

Santa Barbara, Cae., June 18th, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The Mission Water Company have 8,ooo feet of 6 inch riveted sheet- 
iron pipe ; 3,000 ft. of 5-inch ditto ; 8,000 ft. of 2-inch gas pipe ; 1,500 ft. 
4-inch lap-welded screw-joint pipe, and 1,000 ft. of 3-inch ditto. 

The 5 and 6-inch pipe has been in use about ten years ; the 3 and 4-inch 
lap-welded pipe has been in use eight years, and the 2-inch pipe is of all 
ages from ten years down to a few days. All this pipe was coated inside 
and outside with asphaltum. It has cost very little for repairs, the lap- 
welded and gas pipe almost nothing, and all of it appears to be in good 
order now. 

(Signed) R. B. CanPie^d, 

Prest. Mission Water Co. of Santa Barbara. 



NO BREAKS UNDER 200 FEET HEAD. 271 



Santa Barbara, Cal., Dec. nth, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Our experience with the Converse pipe -which you ask about in your 
letter of Dec. 3rd has not been exhaustive, but as far as it goes it is 
favorable. 

When the water was first turned on to the completed line several small 
holes were found. At these places the pipe had to be cut and bells put in. 
This indicates, of course, that the pipes were not made of even thickness. 
Since the first experience, however, we have had no break in the pipe at 
all. Our greatest pressure head is a little less than 200 feet ; this the pipe 
seems to stand without any trouble. 

(Signed) G. H. Gould, 

Prest. MonTECITO VALLEY WATER Co. 



Santa Barbara, Cal., Nov. 5th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

On my return from an extended absence, I find your letter of Oct. 14th, 
with queries concerning Converse Lock Joint Pipe, which I answer in order : 

Greatest pressure, — -Head 200 feet. 

Number of breaks, — None. 

Cost of repairs, — Slight. 

Present condition of pipe, — Good. 

Economy in laying, — Calculations are not at hand. 

Character of soil, — Clay and gravelly. 

No frost. 

Shallow trenches. 

Have not examined internal condition with care. 

No noticeable effect on the water. 

Have no cast-iron pipe in system. 

(Signed) G. M. Gould, 

Prest. MonteciTO Valley Water Co. 



Santa Barbara Water Co., \ 

Santa Barbara, Cal., Oct. 21st, 1892. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reference to your questions of 14th inst. , concerning the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe which you furnished some time ago, would 
say that : 

Amount of pressure carrying ? Up to 90 lbs. per square inch. 

Breaks, if any? None. 

Annual cost of repairs ? Nothing. 

Present condition of the pipe ? Perfect. 

Economy of lead and labor in laying ? Considerable. 

Internal condition as to cleanliness ? Clean and smooth. 

Effect, if any, on the water? None whatever. 

How it compares with cast-iron pipe ? Don't know, as we have no cast- 
iron pipe in our works. 

(Signed) H. C. Thompson, Sec'y. 



272 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A. C. Cooper, Civil Engineer, { 
Santa Barbara, Cae., Nov. 2d, 1892. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiry as to pipe furnished the Pacific Improvement 
Company ; the pipe was laid in the steep canons of the Santa Ynez Moun- 
tains and had to be carried to place of use over rough and precipitous trails. 
This was accomplished by placing two mules tandem and loading a pipe on 
each side of them attached to a pack-saddle like a Spanish Palanquin. The 
mules misbehaved at first, but after coming to grief several times, such as 
rolling down the mountains, they accepted the situation and did well. 

By using your " Bending Machine," the pipe after completion fitted the 
mountains like an immense lead pipe. In some pipes compound bends were 
made so that they would fit the rocks. 

The cost of repairs has been nothing since the pipe was laid (except 
where immense slides from the mountain side has broken it. ) 

The Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe has the following advantages 
over wrought-iron pipe screwed together with a sleeve coupling. When 
locked and leaded the Converse Joint pipe cannot be pulled apart like 
wrought-iron pipe when screwed together ; it has no weak point near the 
sleeve coupling as in the screw pipe, which, when screwed together nearly 
always leaves several threads exposed, making a weak point in the pipe. 

The Converse Lock Joint permits both ends of the pipes to come to- 
gether, thus avoiding the eddy which occurs between the ends of both screw 
pipe and cast-iron pipe. 

The Converse Joint Kalamein Pipe can be bent so as to accommodate it- 
self to bends up to twenty-five degrees, and compound bends can be made in 
the pipe, a great desideratum when laying pipe over very rough ground. 

Besides possessing some of the above-named advantages, it also has the 
following over cast-iron pipe : It is not as liable to be broken by rough 
usage ; it is stronger ; it is lighter and can therefore be transported with 
greater ease to points of use. The Kalamein affords great protection against 
corrosion. The asphaltum coating looks like an enamel ; is ductile ; tena- 
cious and adheres well to the pipe. 

The " black dip " on wrought-iron pipe is worthless, being little or no 
protection to wrought-iron pipe. I would not put such pipe in the ground. 
(Signed) A. S. Cooper. 



SAUK CENTSB, MINN. 

} 



Sauk Centre Water Co., 
Sauk Centre, Minn., Nov. i8th, 1884. 



National Tube Works Co. 

Having just finished laying your Indestructible Converse Joint Kala- 
mein Pipe and tested to 1S0 pounds to the square inch, we find it perfect in 
every respect. Every joint was and is perfectly tight ; after having a 
pressure for the last two weeks. It is easy to lay, easily handled, requires 
less lead, less calking, and will pass more water with less friction than any 
pipe we ever handled. Have repeatedly tested your pipe to 280 pounds in 
nine miles of mains and found it most truly satisfactory. 

(Signed) Sauk Centre Water Co., 

N. J. Smith, Pres. 






*>./■■■-&" 



' ': - 



, ■-?<?? 




HAS BEEN GIVING PERFEGT SATISFACTION FOR 8 YEARS. 273 

The water works have been tested and are efficient. The pump runs 
too fast and new gearing will have to be placed, and that seems to be the 
only hitch there is. This is so small an affair as to hardly need comment, 
and is the result of a miscalculation of the manufacturers of the wheels. 
On Sunday water was thrown out of the hydrants with perfect success, and 
on Wednesday hose was attached and a trial made. Sauk Centre has the 
most efficient system of water works. — Sauk Centre Tribune. 



Sauk Centre, Minn., Dec. 29th, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of the 26th is at hand and in reply will say all material that you 
supplied our department in 1884 has, thus far, given perfect satisfaction, 
never having any trouble whatever. Of course, I cannot say in what con- 
dition the inside of our mains is, but the outside is to all appearances in as 
perfect condition as when laid, and I can cheerfully recommend all material 
manufactured and sold by the National Tube Works Company. 

(Signed) L. E. CoE, Supt. Water Works. 



City of Sauk Centre, { 

Sauk Centre, Minn., Oct. 25, 1892. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

As to the Converse Patent Dock Joint Kalamein Pipe that we have been 
using for eight years, we can say that it is giving perfect satisfaction. It is 
carrying from fifty to one hundred and twenty pounds pressure. There are 
no breaks or leaks as j^et, and no cost for repairs. The condition of the 
pipe is good. Soil is sandy, and, as to cleanliness, I think it is far ahead of 
cast-iron pipe. I can see no effect on the water. 

(Signed) L. E. CoE, Supt. Water Works. 



SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN. 

Sauet Ste. Marie, Mich., Nov. 8th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The test of the system of water works of this village occurred on the 4th 
and 5th insts., and proved most satisfactory. On the 4th inst. the test con- 
sisted of throwing eight streams simultaneously over one hundred feet high, 
and two streams at another time over the ball on flagstaff on top of the 
tower of the Court House, estimated to be one hundred and thirty feet high. 
The test on the 5th inst. consisted of subjecting the mains to 150 lbs. 
pressure from three until five o'clock P. M , and 140 lbs. from five o'clock 
until midnight. The test was sustained without a break, conclusively 
demonstrating the strength of your pipe, and the faithful and efficient 
services of your Field Engineer in superintending the laying of the same. 
(Signed) Otto FowxE, 

Secretary Board of Water Commissioners. 



Saui/t Ste. Marie, Mich., August 17th, 1890. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to the Kalamein pipe which has been sold by you to this city 
during a period of four years, we can report that the same has given perfect 



274 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



satisfaction, and there has certainly never been any grounds for complaint 
by this city. 

(Signed) Board of Public Works, 

per John C. Shaw, Sec'y. 



Office of the Board of Public Works, ) 
Sault Ste. Marie., Mich., Nov. 23d, 1S91. / 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry as to the durability, etc., of the Converse Pat. 
Lock-Joint Kalamein Water Pipe that we purchased of you about five years 
ago, would say that I can best answer your inquiry by stating that I re- 
ceived a letter from Syracuse, N. Y., yesterday, regarding Kalamein pipe. 
I inclose you a copy of my answer, so you can see what our experience is 
from my point of view. 

(Signed) F. M. Taylor, Deputy Sec. 



,,\ 



Office of the Board of Public Works, 

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Nov. 23d, 1891 
W. R. Hill, Chief Engineer, Syracuse Water Board, Syracuse, N. Y. 

Your letter of Nov. 16th at hand. We have 6 miles OF Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalamein water pipe, and I can say that it has 

BEEN DOWN NEARLY SIX YEARS. WE HAVE HAD NO LEAKS AND NO 
DEFECTS IN IT, TO 4 OR 5 IN THE CAST-IRON PIPE, AS OUR FOREMAN 
REPORTS FREQUENTLY. I HAVE EXAMINED THE KALAMEIN PIPE FRE- 
QUENTLY (whenever taps are being made), and I have never SEEN A 
SIGN OF RUST OR ANY FORMATIONS ON THE INSIDE OF THE PIPE. THE 
OUTSIDE OF THE PIPE IS JUST AS BRIGHT AND FRESH AS WHEN IT WAS 
laid in the ground some Six years ago. We purchased our pipe of 
the National Tube Works Co., Chicago, Illinois. So far as durability is 
concerned, it is just as good as cast-iron. 

(Signed) F. M. Taylor, Deputy Sec. 



Office of the Board of Public Works. \ 

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, October 27th, 1892. / 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of the 20th, directed to the Superintendent of the Water 
Works is at hand, and it would be unfair to me as well as to yourselves did 
I not give you an honest opinion. I will therefore answer the questions 
which you have asked and some which you have not asked. 

( 1 ) Amount of pressure it is carrying ? Our daily service is between 
35 and 40 pounds and our fire pressure is from 60 to 115 pounds, according 
to the situation of the fire and number of streams, etc., which pressure is 
controlled by telephone. The higher pressure is never kept up for any 
length of time, at least so far in our experience. 

(2) Break, if any? As to this, our pipe has been down six years ; the 
first two years we had five or six breaks in the bells of joints. The last four 
years we have had two, viz : a crack of the bell. 

(3.) Annual cost of repairs? It is very light. (Answer to question 
No. 2.) 



KALAMEIN PIPE BETTER THAN CAST-IRON. 275 



(4.) Present condition of pipe? As good as when put down. Only 
a month since, I uncovered our force main, which was the first laid, and cut 
it to make a change and I was surprised that it should appear in such good 
condition. 

(5.) Economy of lead and labor in laying ? A saving of about thirty- 
five per cent, in lead and twenty-five per cent, in labor, over cast-iron. 

( 6. ) Character of soil in which it is laid ? It is laid in rock ( in which 
all the failures spoken of above occurred), gravel and sand. (It seems to be 
most perfect in sand. ) 

(7.) Internal condition with reference to cleanliness? As good and 
clean as when laid. (See answer No. 4. As good as when put down. 
Only a month since I uncovered our force main, which was the first laid, 
and cut it to make a change and I was surprised that it should appear in such 
good condition. ) 

(8) Effects, if any, on the water ? Of no effect. 

(9.) How it compares with cast-iron pipe ? Equally as good as to the 
service of the pipe. The past three years cast iron-pipe has been used in ex- 
tensions and of course it is too soon to institute comparisons, using our city 
as a guide. From experience of other places I find that after a tap is put in 
cast iron-pipe there is trouble from the splitting of the pipe. 

In regard to the purity of the water, it seems rather in favor of the Kala- 
mein Pipe in " dead ends " though that is hardly a fair point to consider, as 
"dead ends" are objectionable under any circumstances. 

Hoping that my answers may be of service to you, I remain. 

(Signed) F. M. Taylor, Dep't Secretary. 



SAVANNAH, ILLINOIS. 

Savannah, Ii.iv., October 31st, 1889. 
J. R. Bothwelt, Ogden, Utah. 

It having come to my knowledge that you were about to use a'large 
quantity of pipe, I wish to say a few words in regard to Kalameiu pipe. 

The water works at this place were constructed about four years ago. 
The pipe is all 6-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch Kalamein. We find many things 
in favor of this pipe. It is easy to lay, easy to tap, and of great carrying 
capacity on account of its smooth inside surface. We also find that where 
we are making taps at present there is no change as to wear from the first 
day we put it in. I consider the Kalamein pipe a better pipe than any cast 
pipe of present make. 

(Signed) W. C. Griffith, Mayor, 

and Pres. of Board Water Com'rs. 



SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. 

SKATTi,K, Wash., Dec. 10th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Having laid about 53 miles of Converse Lock Joint pipe, I find that I 
have no unfavorable comments to make, as I find it in all respects the best 
pipe in use, and fully warrants all that has been said in its favor for 



276 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



strength, durability and economy of laying, its inside surface being an 
uninterrupted line of equal size. It will deliver more water than any other 
pipe of equal size. 

(Signed) H. H. McWilliams, 

Chief Engineer for Schwabacher Bros. 



Seattle, Wash., Aug. 20th, 1891. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I am now about leaving Seattle, Wash., where I have been engaged in 
laying the pipe for the city water works now nearly completed. I have 
also taken up and re-laid in another district quite a large amount of the 
original Converse Joint Kalamein water pipe which was in the old system, 
but is now re-laid in the new system designed by the city. 

After the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe was lifted (taken up) it 
was again laid, and under the heavy pressure of the new system it showed 
no defects, and successfully withstood the heavy pressure. When the 
Kalamein pipe was taken up I examined it carefully to see what condition 
it was in. After a careful examination I found that it was in as good con- 
dition and as well fitted for water works purposes as any pipe I ever laid. 
This Kalamein pipe was in use between seven and eight years (as you are 
aware), but when taken up and carefully examined there was no sign of 
corrosion or tubercular formation whatever. In fact, I considered the 
pipe to be in as good condition as it was when first laid, and when the 
pressure was turned on the pipe showed itself to be in perfect order. 

Thinking that you would like to know, from an actual observer, the 
condition in which your Converse Joint Kalamein Water Pipe was, in this 
place, I have taken the liberty to advise you as above, as you are aware 
that I have had many years of practical experience in matters pertaining 
to the construction of water works plants. I do not like to speak dis- 
paragingly about water works material, but will write you as to what I know 
about the condition, etc., of the " Spiral Welded Steel Pipe " that was laid 
in Seattle. I had charge of la3 T ing quite a large section of this Spiral Weld 
Steel Pipe, which was delivered to the department at Seattle, having been 
previously coated by the manufacturers before shipment. Upon arrival the 
coating was removed, and the pipe was then re-coated with asphaltum in 
the Seattle Pipe Yard. After laying the pipe, we were greatly bothered 
with bursts and leaks. In one place, where the pressure did not exceed 35 
pounds per square inch there was a large number of holes burst in the 
pipe — the holes being about the size of auickle. These bursts were repaired 
by putting on your "National Service Clamps." Where the larger breaks 
occurred it was necessary to put split-sleeves around the pipe and fasten 
them. I can assure you that this item of expense was no small one to the 
department. We also had great trouble with the " rust-joints " made by the 
pipe manufacturer, and used in attaching their hubs to the pipe proper. A 
large number of those joints leaked badly, and the only way that we could 
repair them was the expensive way — breaking off the hub or sleeve and 
furnishing new ones to take the place of the originals, and then calking 
them tight upon the pipe. This entailed a large expense, besides the loss 
of time and the annoyance of such delays, while the line was being placed 



SPIRAL WELD PIPE PROVES UNSATISFACTORY. 277 



in position. We laid some of this "Spiral Weld Steel Pipe" under the 
wharfs, and it caused great trouble and expense to the department. At one 
point where the pressure was only 118 pounds there were found 16 breaks 
when the water was turned into the line. I understand that the whole lot 
of "Spiral Weld Steel Pipe" has proven so unsatisfactory that it is liable 
to cause long litigation between the manufacturers of the pipe, the parties 
furnishing the pipe, and the City of Seattle. Beyond doubt, the "Spiral 
Weld Pipe" will all have to be removed and replaced with other pipe. 
Owing to the thinness of the Spiral Weld Pipe we had serious difficulty in 
cutting it where it was necessary to do so to make connections. It required 
the greatest skill of our best and experienced calkers, and even they would 
either bend the pipe out of shape, open the pipe at the weld, or punch it 
full of holes in trying to cut it off. There is not enough substance in this 
"Spiral Weld Steel Pipe" to make it safe in handling, saying nothing 
about the serious difficulty in trying to cut it when necessary to make 
connections. 

If this information is of any service to you you are welcome to use it, 
and it can be substantiated at any time if necessary. 

From this time on my address will be Butte, Mont., where I go to take 
charge of the pipe laying for their new and extensive water works system, 
and, if there is anything of importance at Butte, I will write you. 

(Signed) Rudolph Probst. 



Office of Schwabacher Bros. & Co. ) 
Seattle, Wash., Nov. 2, 1892. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have your letter of the 20th ult., and in reply would state that after 
an experience of several years with your Patent Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, 
will say that it has given entire satisfaction to all our customers, the city of 
Seattle being one of the largest customers we have on our books. We 
remain, 

(Signed) Schwabacher Bros. & Co., Inc. 

Hicks. 



Chicago, May 17th, 1895. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M. National Tube Works Co. 

I enclose herein some correspondence in regard to Kalamein pipe. The 
letter of Mr. Thompson, City Engineer of Seattle, is a corker. Under oath 
he states that he believes Kalamein pipe will be found in perfect condition 
after fifty years of service 

We are indebted to Hoge & Swift for this correspondence. 

Chas. A. Lamb, Local Manager. 



Seattle, Wash., April 15, 1895. 
Board of Public Works. Seattle. 

In connection with proposed water works construction at Ballard, it 
has been stated that the present line of 8" Kalamein pipe on Pike street, 



278 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Seattle, is being removed because of the deterioration of pipe and unsafe 
condition. As we understand, this line is being changed to 12" because of 
increased supply required for this section of the city. 

Will you kindly reply, touching this point, and greatly oblige, 
(Signed) National Tube Works Co. 

per Hoge & Swift. 

The City of Seattle, 

Board of Public Works, 

Seattle, Wash., April 15, 1895. 
Messrs. Hoge & Swift, National Tube Works Co., Seattle, Wash. 

The Board of Public Works begs to acknowledge receipt of your favor 
of even date, in which you say that it has been stated that the 8-inch Kala- 
mein pipe on Pike Street is being removed on account of deterioration of 
pipe and unsafe condition. Such statement is incorrect. The pipe referred 
to is being replaced with 12-inch cast-iron pipe for the reason that, as a con- 
tract has been made for the laying of a brick pavement on Pike Street, it 
was deemed best at this time to put in a larger pipe, and hence it is being 
done in advance of the laying of the pavement. Cast-iron pipe is used be- 
cause the city has it on hand. The Kalamein pipe now being removed has 
been down twelve years, and, considering the length of time it has been in 
the ground, it is in good condition. 

By order of the Board of Public Works, 
(Signed) GEO. F. Meacham, Sec't'y. 



Seattle, Wash., April 15, 1895. 
Mr. R. H. Thompson , City Engineer, Seattle, Wash. 

In connection with proposed water works construction at Ballard, you 
have been quoted as stating that, for a " temporary, cheap system," Kala- 
mein pipe would answer the purpose, but for serviceability and permanency 
you unqualifiedly recommend cast-iron pipe. 

It has also been stated that the present line of 8-inch Kalamein pipe on 
Pike Street, Seattle, is being removed because of deterioration of the pipe 
and its unsafe condition. 

Will you kindly reply, touching these statements, and greatly oblige, 
National Tube Works Co., 
(Signed) Per Hoge & Swift. 

Department of Public Works. 

Office of the City Engineer, 

Seattle, Wash., April i6th, 1895. 
Messrs. Hoge & Swift. 

I have received from you, under date of April 15th, a note stating that 
in connection with proposed water works construction at Ballard, I had been 
quoted as stating that for a " temporary cheap system Kalamein pipe would 
answer the purpose, but for serviceability and permanency I unqualifiedly 
recommended cast-iron pipe." 

I have made no such statement, neither would such a statement express 
my judgment. I have several times lately advised the Fire and Water Com- 
mittee of the Seattle Council that, in order to secure the water custom of 



KALAMEIN PIPE WILL LAST OVER FIFTY YEARS. 279 



Ballard, I thought that in our financial distress we would be justified in lay- 
ing a cheap tar dipped riveted pipe on the ungraded sliding ground along 
the west shore of Take Union, and some persons may have thought that I 
meant Kalamein pipe, but I did not, but referred to the class of riveted pipe 
used in hydraulic mining, which would answer for a "temporary cheap 
system." I regard Kalamein as by far the best class of water pipe on the 
market. Less than ten days ago, in a law suit, after mature deliberation, I 
made oath that I knew of well dipped riveted pipe, which was in good 
condition after fifteen years' service, but that I believed from my experience 
that Kalamein pipe would be found in perfect condition after more than fifty 
years of service. 

I have several times said, when discussing the question of pipe for a 
permanent water system, that I would rather pay a higher price for a 
Kalamein pipe than for a cast pipe. One reason for this is, that with a 
complete system or Kalamein pipe, if you go to the faucet and open it, you 
draw only clear, fresh water, and not a decoction of iron rust. This item is 
of very considerable importance. When Kalamein pipe is used, and water 
is sold through the meter, the customer does not have to pay for iron rust 
on such water as he would have to allow to run through his faucet to free it 
from dust. When the water is rated by the persons in the family, the 
municipality is, by using Kalamein pipe, saved the loss caused by open 
faucets running off rust. The loss made in this way when the supply is 
limited is a very serious and expensive matter, which is avoided by the use 
of Kalamein pipe. 

You ask about the removal of the 8-iuch pipe on Pike Street in this 
city. That main is being removed simply because it is not large enough for 
the service required, and we are replacing it with a 12-inch cast pipe because 
we had that style of pipe on hand. I have carefully examined this pipe, 
which has been in the ground ten or twelve years, and I believe it will be 
practically as good as new. 

(Signed) Reginald H. Thompson. 



SHENANDOAH, PENNSYLVANIA. 
THE PIPES STAND THE TEST. 

THE INSPECTION SATISFACTORY TO THE BOROUGH OFFICIALS. 

In accordance with previous arrangements, the members and officers of 
the Borough Council, together with the joint committee, yesterday visited 
the reservoir at Brandonville for the purpose of testing the pumps and in- 
specting the 8,000 feet of steel pipe laid from the top of the mountain to the 
pumping station. Engineer Womelsdorf, Contractor William Mc Adams 
and representatives of the Jeanesville Iron Works and the National Tube 
Works were present. 

The weather was favorable for the inspection, and the gentleman who 
deals with the elements seemed to have an eye single to the success of the 
project. Everything passed off smoothly and without a single drawback. 

The pumps were first started at 2 o'clock yesterday morning, and at 4 
o'clock the water began to trickle from the pipes into the distributing reser- 



280 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



voir at Fowler's Run. This test was taken as a precaution from any delay 
that might occur when the final test was to be made later in the day in the 
presence of the borough officials. But happily the precaution was unneces- 
sary. When the final word was given to move the monster engines, Mr. 
Samuel Garner, the engineer in charge, opened the valves and the plungers 
worked back and forth with the smoothness of clock work, and forced the 
water over the mountain in such a manner that it caused a pleasant smile 
from those members of Council who have taken an active interest in the 
project. And they have just cause for congratulation upon the result of 
yesterday's inspection. The test has proved satisfactory in every particular, 
and has dispelled the doubts in the minds of some members of Council as to 
the steel pipe line standing the pressure without one or two air-taps at 
certain points along the line. However, this precaution will be taken to- 
day. Mr. E. F. Gallagher, chairman of the water committee, will tap the 
line at each high point to allow the escape of air that may have accumu- 
lated, and which will allow of a larger flow of water through the pipes. 

There are two pumps at the station, which were manufactured by the 
Jeanesville Iron Works. They are capable of pumping 1,000,000 gallons of 
water 884 feet high through 12,000 feet of 12-inch column pipe in twelve 
hours. — Evening Herald, Shenandoah, Pa., Friday, December 21, /Sp-/. 



SIEBRA CITY, NEW MEXICO. 

Sierra City, Dona Ana Co., N. M., May 31, 1882. 
Natio7ial Tube Works Co. 

Manager's Office of the Sierra Apache, Sierra Bella, Sierra Grande and 
Sierra Plata Mining Companies. 

Very cheerfully do I endorse the lap-welded tubing of your manufac- 
ture. I have used it for years, and my experience justifies the assertion 
that there is nothing better for conducting steam, compressed air or water. 
In proof of my faith in it, I have (just this month) laid 22,000 feet of it for 
water works, where it will have to withstand a pressure of 300 pounds to 
the square inch, and be subject to changing temperature. I can convince 
anyone you may refer to me regarding the tubing. 

(Signed) D. H. Jackson, General Manager. 

Per Gibson. 



SIOUX CITY, IOWA. 
This city appointed a committee of three members of their 
Council to travel about and report as to the best pipe for Sioux 
City. The Committee made the following official report : 

Sioux City, Iowa, Sept. 4th, 1883. 
To the Honorable Mayor and City Council. 

Gentlemen : — The committee to whom were referred the manufac- 
ture and tests of the indestructible metal-alloy wrought-iron pipe, have to 
report : 

We visited the National Tube Works manufacturing establishment at 



TESTED TO 900 POUNDS. 281 

McKeesport, and saw the pipe made and the method of coating the same, 
both inside and out, with indestructible metal-alloy ; also saw the mode of 
making the connection and the following tests made of the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint and the pipe, namely : 

Subjection to a bursting pressure of 900 pounds per square inch, and a 
pulling strain of 9,900 pounds per square inch, after which the coupling 
was broken with sledges, and the inspection of the durability, strength, 
ease of handling and laying, and the great saving of labor and lead in 
making joints, to say nothing of the great saving in price, demonstrated. 
This pipe commends itself to the consideration of any city or person con- 
templating the construction of water works. Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) J. H. FiTTS, ) 

W. H. Barker, [Com. 

Wm. E. PowELE, j 



The Sioux City Daily Journal of Aug. 14, 1883, published 
the following interview with Alderman Fitts: 

Messrs. Fitts, Powell and Barker, the three Aldermen who went to 
McKeesport, Pa., to investigate the water works pipe business, got home 
on Sunday. A reporter sought out Mr. Fitts, because he, being a hard- 
ware man, was expected to be the best judge of metal matters, and asked 
him about the McKeesport pipe. 

"It is the thing," said the Alderman; "the pipe is carefully made 
from the best wrought iron, like any other good pipe, and then while hot 
is dipped into a bath of hot composition. This does not make a coating 
on the pipe, but strikes right in like amalgamation, making it like a gal- 
vanized pipe, only smoother. The coating is white, almost like tin, and 
smooth. Fvery piece of pipe is tested at the works before it is sent out. 
We saw it tested up to a pulling strain of 9,900 pounds to the square inch, 
and to a bursting pressure of 900 pounds to the square inch. The coating 
does not give strength ; only prevents rust and gives smoothness. 

The company used to make an asphaltum-covered pipe for water 
works, which is in use in about fifty cities. F. C. Hills has written to a 
number of these cities, and they reported the pipe doing good service, 
excepting where rough usage has scaled off the asphaltum and let the water 
against the iron to rust it. The new metal cannot be scaled off as the 
asphaltum can, for it goes into the pores of the iron and makes a perfect 
union with the iron of the pipe. 

There is, besides, the saving in freights, the absence of breakage, and 
the less cost of laying. " 

An Open Letter. 

Missoula Vaeeey, Sept. 19th, 1883. 
When it became evident, after the course taken by the representatives 
of cast-iron pipe on the evening the bids were opened, that it was a fight 
between cast-iron men and McKeesport, I promised you and them that I 
would remain neutral, answering only to questions of facts, leaving the 
matter in their and your hands, and on the merits of the bids which were 



282 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



put in. In absolute good faith. I held good my word and approached no 
member of the Council upon the subject. 

Now, however, that they have broken faith in endeavoring to get in a 
new bid, through the agency of the Holly pump, a proceeding wherein the 
iron men can keep still and allow the pump question, on a new basis, to 
control the situation, a situation in which they win in any case, I break the 
silence. 

I did not think this of Davis, of the Cincinnati & Newport Iron & Pipe 
Co., and because I trusted him and acted on that faith, it gave them an 
opportunity to act outside of the merits or demerits of other kinds of pipe 
after I had gone. I do not mean now to cry down cast-iron. It has been 
in the past the best we could get. It has caused every contractor more or 
less uneasiness and expense until the time of probation after completing 
the works had passed. Never in my experience of over fifteen years have I 
built a works, or known of anyone else doing so, with cast-iron that we did 
not have, upon turning in the water and testing the pipes, more or less 
breaks, some of them costly ones, too. This has been caused by the brittle- 
ness of cast-iron. In transporting it by rail it gets many a jolt and a jar 
and banging of cars, and often we are obliged to cut from the ends of the 
pipe because they are cracked. This in itself is oftentimes a serious loss to 
the contractor or city. Often we cannot find any crack or split, yet when 
the pressure is applied by the pumps on the inside they open up, sometimes 
causing heavy loss in repairing, streets washed out, cellars flooded, etc. 
We have borne all this, and more, because it was the best we could do. We 
have tried spiral pipe, cement-lined pipe and wooden pipe, hoping to dis- 
cover some kind that would stand all these tests. Cast-iron pipe has had a 
large sale. It has been used in many cities and towns in this and other 
countries. In other walks of life it has been superseded in many cases by 
other metals. Steel is replacing it in many cases. May not the time have 
come when it as a water pipe has had its day ? 

Every contractor in the United States is anxiously waiting to note the 
result of this new pipe of the National Tube Works. Many of our hydraulic 
engineers indorse it, and many others propose to. It has far less friction 
than cast-iron in its entire length, and its joint, where is the greatest friction 
in cast-iron pipes owing to many causes, is certainly as nearly perfect as any 
other part of the pipe. It can be handled and laid at a less cost than cast- 
iron. Its first cost delivered to cities is less. Its strength is greater. The 
only question is — will it last ? Will cast-iron men guarantee their pipe ? 
No. Why ? Because they know too well the man}- causes that lead to 
breaks. They know too well that all water works have had to have skilled 
men retained in their employ to repair breaks, leaks, etc. The curses we 
fear, and must guard against them in cast-iron pipe, are rust and breaks. 
To prevent rust it is coated, but this rubs off. To prevent breaks we make 
it heavy, yet it breaks. Regarding your pipe, chemists tell us it will not 
rust or corrode ; that the action of the soil will not affect it. We know it 
is easily handled. We know it is cheapest ; and now we are only awaiting 
to know if the claims of capitalists who have investigated it and are putting 
their money into it are true, if the statements of eminent chemists are true, 
to generally adopt it. I do not propose to cry down cast-iron pipe. We all 
know what it is. I only hope we have found the Mecca of our hopes. 

(Signed) George B. Inman. 



KALAMEIN PIPE CLEAN AFTER EIGHT YEARS' SERVICE. 



283 



P. S.— In this fight on the merits of the two kinds of pipe it is the fear 
of the east-iron men that causes them to combine together, and later to 
combine with a certain pump— anything and everything to kill off this 
young but lusty giant. 

(Signed) G B T 

—From the Sioux City Daily Journal, September 26, 1883. 



Sioux Fai^s Water Company, 

at f J r i ur 1. ^ SlOUX FaI ^ S > S. D., Oct. 28, 1892. 

National Tube Works Co. y 

Your letter of 20th, asking as to the satisfaction the Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe is giving is received, and in reply will say that 
the amount of domestic pressure is 65 lbs., and the fire pressure is 120 lbs: 
We have but few leaks in the pipe, all of them being in the join£sr^nd are 
accounted for by not having been driven up properly. The pipe'has been 
in the ground about eight years and is in good condition. There is a great 
saving in lead and labor, over cast-iron pipe. Our soil is principally °clay. 
The inside of the Kalamein pipe is smooth and clean after eight years of use 
and we do not hesitate to recommend its use as it compares favorably with 
cast-iron pipe. Y 

( Si § ued ) R. W Ns Barnes, Supt. 

SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON". 

AT r i r 1 nr i. ^ Snohomish, Wash., Oct. 29, 1892. 

National Tube Works Co. y 

Replying to your inquiries of October 20th— The Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Kalamein Pipe which you furnished some time since is giving cx 00 d 
satisfaction. 

Amount of pressure it is carrying, 80 lbs. to sq. inch. 

Breaks, if any — Never had any. 

Annual cost of repairs — Never made any repairs. 

Present condition of the pipe — Good. 

Economy of lead and labor in laying— Economical. 

Character of soil in which it is laid— Loam. 

Internal condition with reference to cleanliness— Good. 

Effect, if any, on the water— It has no effect on water. 

How it compares with cast-iron pipe— No C. I. Pipe here. 

( Si S ned ) F. V. Foss, Sup't. Waterworks. 



SOCOEEO, N. M. 

National Tube Works Co. S ° C °^°' N ' M " M&y 23rd ' l89 °- 

I have deferred writing you because the City Fathers did not know, nor 
had they concluded, what to do. They have finally arrived at the conclusion 
to repair their old wood pipe line (from springs to reservoir) this season with 
the view of combining this year's appropriation with next year's and buying 
a good article next season, the fund appropriated for present year being in- 
sufficient. This I regret, for I am satisfied that your Kalamein pipe would 



284 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



have been used and ought to have been used for the purpose intended. This 
makes three years since your pipe was laid and it is eminently fitted for our 
purpose. 

(Signed) A. T. Harrison. 



SPOKANE FALLS, WASHINGTON. 

Spokane Fai^s, Wash., Oct. 27th, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

As far as I can judge the pipe for Spokane Falls has been very well laid 
and everything satisfactory. 

(Signed) Philip Buehner. 



ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN. 

St. Cxair, Mich., June 14th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The water works system here consists of your Kalamein Converse Joint 
wrought-iron pipe. I was superintendent of the water works from the 
Spring of 'S5 until the spring of '88. I laid the pipe in the spring of '85. 
After it was laid we tested it to 250 lbs. water pressure and it showed no de- 
fects. It has been in the ground now since '85, and an examination at the 
present time shows it to be in the same condition as when laid. 

There have been no breaks in the pipe since laid. I consider it equal if 
not superior to any water pipe manufactured. The City is using additional 
lots of Kalamein pipe from year to year, and is well pleased with it in every 
respect. 

(Signed) W. B. MORSE. 

The following affidavit was voluntarily sent to our Chicago 
Branch House : 

Deposition of Wm. B. Morse, of lawful age, taken pursuant to the fore- 
going notice, before T. D. Barron, Notary Public, on oral interrogatories 
and cross interrogatories. H. E. Keeler appearing for the plaintiff and no 
one for the defendant. 

Wm. B. Morse, being duly sworn, was examined, and deposed as follows: 

Direct Examination. 

O. What is your name, age, residence and occupation? 

A. William B. Morse; fifty -two ; residence, St. Clair, St. Clair County, 
Michigan ; occupation, Justice of the Peace. 

O. Were you ever connected or interested in the water works at St. 
Clair, Mich. , and in what capacity ? 

A. Yes ; as superintendent, from the Spring of 1885 to the Spring of 
1888. 

Q. Are you familiar with the water pipe manufactured by the National 
Tube Works Company, known as " Kalamein " pipe? 

A. Yes. 



CONVERSE JOINT GIVES ENTIRE SATISFACTION. 285 



0. State particularly what experience you have had with it ? 

A. The experience of laying and using it in the City of St. Clair, Mich- 
igan, from the spring of 1885 till the present time. 

Q. State from actual experience what you know with respect to the 
quality and durability of said pipe, fully. 

A. In the Spring of 1886, after pipe was laid, it was tested at two hun- 
dred and fifty pounds water pressure and showed no defects. It has been 
laid in the ground since 1885, and an examination at the present time shows 
it to be in the same condition as when laid. There have been no breaks in 
the pipe since laid. I consider it equal if not superior to any water pipe 
manufactured. The City of St. Clair, Michigan, continues to use the said 
pipe, additional pipe being ordered from year to year. 

(Signed) W. B. Morse. 

1, T. D. Barron, a Notary Public, in and for St. Clair County, State of 
Michigan, duly commissioned, do hereby certify that on the 14th of June, 
1889, at ten o'clock A. M., pursuant to the foregoing notice, the deposition 
of William B Morse was taken before me; that the foregoing is the deposition 
referred to and the whole thereof, and that the said witness before testifying 
was cautioned and sworn to testify the whole truth and was carefully ex- 
amined. His testimony was reduced to writing by me and after being re- 
duced to writing was carefully read over by me to the witness, and subscribed 
by him. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and official seal the 14th 
day of June, 1889. 

(Signed) T. D. Barron, Notary Public. 



ST. Clair, Mich., October 17th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Please ship St. Clair water works 2,000 feet of two (2) inch pipe and 500 

feet of four (4) inch pipe. We want the Kalamein & Asphalted Converse 

Lock Joint pipe, the same that we have previously had from you. We have 

purchased all of our pipe from you since 1885, and there has never been a 

break or an instance of leakage. 

(Signed) Water Works Comr. 



TACOMA, WASHINGTON. 

Tacoma, Washington, Dec. 5, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of the 2d inst., relative to the Converse Joint 
pipe we purchased from you some four years ago. It has given us entire 
satisfaction, and we are now considering the advisability of making use of 
this pipe in the construction of a new conduit twelve or thirteen miles in 
length. 

The writer is somewhat familiar with this pipe, having laid at least fifty 
miles of it for use in the natural gas districts of Pennsylvania, and he will 
probably call upon you about the 13th inst. for information relative to 
present prices. 

(Signed) Chas. B. Hurley, General Superintendent, 

Tacoma Light & Water Company. 



286 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA. 

Huachuca Water Company, } 
Tombstone, Arizona, June 23, 1883. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to yours of June 7th, we will state that we have in use about 
25 miles of 7-inch wrought-iron pipe, from Huachuca Mountains to our city, 
and, in addition, all our streets, mains and service pipes. We use wrought- 
iron pipes for strength, as our pressure is from 140 to 160 pounds to the 
square inch. 

We have had them in use about a year only, and the nature of the soil 
is strongly alkaline, and, from the short time it has been in use, cannot 
state as to the effect on the iron. Our climate is hot and dry, and our pipes 
are at present as good and sound as new, as frequent tappings prove to us. 
(Signed) J. W. Clark, General Agent. 



TTJSCARORA, NEVADA. 

Mr. Herman Schussler, the Consulting Engineer of the 
Tuscarora Water Works Company, is one of the most prominent 
water works engineers on the Pacific coast ; he is also General 
Engineer of the Spring Valley Water Company. 

TEST: Each piece of the 10-gauge pipe to be tested by hydraulic pressure, 
with positive mercury gauge, to 500 pounds to the square inch. 

When this pipe was first brought to Mr. Schussler's attention, 
he did not think it would carry out all of the requirements. 
Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company plainly set forth that 
this pipe would fill the bill of the excessive pressure and to that 
end agreed with Mr. Schussler upon a practical test, which was 
made at San Francisco. 

By taking from stock two pieces of this Converse Joint K. & 
A. ordinary water weights, a joint was made. On the male end 
was put a cap, but on the female end was put a plug; the two 
extreme ends were braced by two ^-inch rods; 1,000 pounds 
pressure was then put on, without the shadow of a leak of any 
kind, name or nature. When the pressure exceeded 1,000 pounds, 
the pipe burst wide open, but the joint remained intact, perfectly 
sound and tight, in all respects, not the slightest leak in the joint 
having taken place. Mr. Schussler was naturally electrified and 
thoroughly convinced of the merits of this pipe. 



San Francisco, Cai,., Dec. 12th, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I received your favor of the~ioth ult. on my arrival here about ten days 
ago. I presume you have heard from the Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden 



FIVE SMALL LEAKS IN TWELVE MILES. 287 



Company ere this of the very successful completion of the Tuscarora job. 
Every person interested was pleased. Mr. Schussler has complimented us 
more than once since the line was completed ; it was a success in every 
particular. In a distance of 12 miles and 3,000 feet (one-third of which is 
under a working pressure of 306 lbs. to the square inch), there was not $ 5 
worth of repairs ; the repairs, such as they were, amounted to this : One 
man walked over the line and back in one day ; he found five joints that 
were merely dropping, and only required a few taps of a calking tool to 
stop them. I went over the line with the man ; we walked over and 
returned the same day. From this you will see that we were not detained 
long to do any work. In the entire distance of 66,360 feet there were but 
five feet of wasted pipe ; four feet of this was damaged in transportation; 
the other foot was loss from two defective ends, which necessitated cutting 
six inches from the end of each. This great saving was very pleasing to Mr. 
Schussler. Considering the long haul by rail, and hauling sixty miles by 
team, it is a remarkable record. We also made a record of laying that, I 
think, will hold good for some time. I will send you a more complete 
report in a few days. In the meantime you can tell my fellow-craftsmen 
that in one day of ten hours we laid three hundred and five (305) joints of 8- 
inch Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe, equivalent to 5,490 feet, or one mile 
and 210 feet ! This was done by one (1) gang of men. If at any time you 
wish to refer to this line you can do so with the positive assurance that it is 
the " Banner Tine " of the coast. 

(Signed) Thos. W. Brooks, Field Engineer. 



San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 30, 1893. 
Mr. E. C. Converse, Genl. Mgr. N. T. IV. Co.. New York, N. Y. 

While perusing your latest edition of " Facts About Pipe " to-day, I 
note that I stated that I would in a few days send you a more complete 
report in re Tuscarora, Nevada, job. I failed to find in your book the 
report referred to and it occurred to me that I either failed to send it, or, 
that it miscarried. I had occasion to look this matter up a few days ago and 
have made a copy of the report taken from notes jotted down at the time I 
was looking after the laying of the pipe. You can take the inclosed report 
as being correct. 

Eight-Inch Pipe Link Converse Patent Lock Joint. 

Total amount of pipe in feet 66.440 

Total number of days laying pipe 33 

Greatest number of feet laid in a day of 10 hours . . 5.520 

Greatest number of feet laid in 8)4 hours 4-93 2 

Average number of feet laid per day 2. 013 

Number of feet lost on the entire line 4 

This pipe was transported by rail 2,265 miles to Elko, Nevada, then 60 
miles over mountain roads by teams ; about two-thirds of the line is laid 
over very mountainous country. For a distance of three miles across the 
Independence Valley the pipe is under a head of 855 feet and has a working 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



pressure of 306 lbs. per square inch ; under these pressures the pipe is made 
of No. 9 and No. 10 iron. 

The pipe was only covered in centres when laid, leaving joints exposed 
that they could be thoroughly examined. Two men sent over the line the 
second day after the water was turned on found five leaks at the joints and 
they were so small it only required a few blows of the hammer to stop them. 
The line was completed October 21st, 1888. 

(Signed) Thos. W. Brooks. 



TYLER, TEXAS. 

Tyi^r, Texas, Oct. 20, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to the light-weight wrought-iron water pipe manufactured by 
the National Tube Works Company, I would say that in all points but one 
it is superior to cast-iron or any other kind of water pipe known to me. 
The one point upon which there can be any possibility of doubt is its com- 
parative durability. Will it last ? is a question often asked ; as yet we have 
not had enough of experience to say decidedly yes. I have no doubt my- 
self that it will prove to be as enduring as cast iron in ordinary soils, and 
that it will last longer in the alkali sections. 

Ordinarily it is cheaper than cast-iron except along the eastern sea 
coast. Freight charges are less, so is handling and hauling and laying in 
the trenches. Less lead is required to each joint, and fewer joints to the 
mile. Caulkers do better work than they can possibly do on cast-iron pipe, 
although no hemp packing is used in the joints (a matter of some import- 
ance as regards cleanliness and health). I find that the Converse Patent 
Lock Joint gives very satisfactory results. This pipe being very smooth 
and even on the surface, and the joints presenting little or no obstructions, 
the loss from friction is very much reduced when compared with other kinds 
of pipe in use. 

On the 10th inst., the works just completed at Georgetown, Texas, by 
the Texas Water and Gas Company, were tested. The pipe used is the 
McKeesport pipe (National Tube Works Company). 

During the fire stream display, the gauge several times showed 216 
pounds pressure, while the general pressure ranged from 180 to 190 pounds 
to the square inch. During this time four fire streams 80 feet high from 
one-inch nozzles were thrown, and at the finish a stream one hundred feet 
high w-as thrown from an inch nozzle. The water first passed through a 
mile of 10-inch pipe, then through a mile of 6-inch pipe, which had almost 
a dead end, and then through 600 feet of 2_^-inch rubber hose. There is no 
doubt that the smoothness of this pipe had much to do in producing these 
results. Although the pressure at times was excessive during the testing, 
we did not have a single leak or break to repair. This will show what may 
be expected of this pipe when the work in laying is not slighted or 
" skimped " by the caulkers. 

(Signed) G. C. Heron, 

Civil and Hydraulic Engineer. 



C. J. IN SERVICE UNDER i 75 LBS. PRESSURE. 



289 



The Tyler Water Co., } 
Tyler, Tex., Oct. 16th, 1802 \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

We used last season uearly four miles of the Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Kalamein Pipe. This pipe was laid over a hilly country, and in 
straight line. We had two joints leak the first part of the season on account 
of settling. We have been carrying 150 to 175 lbs. on the pipe, and see no 
giving away on account of pressure. In putting down the pipe fully half of 
the labor was saved, and half as much lead as cast-iron pipe would use was 
saved. The inside of the pipe keeps clean, and does not affect the water. 
We have about sixteen miles of cast-iron pipe and about four miles of your 
Kalamein, and can see no great difference in them except that the repairs 
on the Lock Joint Pipe have been very small so far when compared with the 
cast-iron pipe. 

(Signed) Tyler Water Co. 

B. W. Rowland, Secy, and Supt. 



TJKIAH, CALIFORNIA. 

Uriah, Cal., Dec. 10, 1S89 
National Tube Works Co. 

Referring to the Converse Lock Joint Pipe which we purchased of you 
last April, we cheerfully recommend it as being superior to any that we 
have ever used. 

( si £ ned ) T. H. Jamison, 

President Ukiah Water Company. 



VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA. 

San Francisco, Cal., Jul v 31st, 1893. 
E. C. Converse, Gen. Man. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

Although the order for the Vallejo, Cal., water works was'taken last 
spring, and the pipe has all been shipped, the particulars, or some of them, 
may even at this late date be interesting to you. 

The specifications called for the following quantities and sizes of pipe, 
the right to vary the quantities being reserved : 
11,463 ft. S-iuch pipe. 
43,000 ft. io.inch pipe. 
20,000 ft. 12-inch pipe. 
The sizes and quantities finally adopted, were : 
28,440 ft. 8-inch pipe. 
11,550 ft. 10-inch pipe. 
We took the order for pipe and connections after one of the hardest 
fights and the severest competition we have yet encountered. The job is a 
very important one and will no doubt form a valuable reference. 

Vallejo is located within a short distance (about 30 miles up the bay) 
from San Francisco, and has attained considerable prominence. Bids were 
received March 29th, opened March 30th, tabulated by the engineer, March 



290 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



31st, and then made public, at which time the Matheson Joint people discov- 
ered that they were not the lowest bidders, notwithstanding the fact that, as 
their bid disclosed, their basis was actual cost, it being clearly shown that in 
order to secure a foothold on the Pacific Coast, they preferred to put the 
Matheson Joint Pipe in at cost. The greed and anxiety of the Matheson 
people to secure this order excelled anything that has come under our notice. 
They have no line of pipe on this coast that they can refer to, and, to secure 
this one would in every way have been a good card for them, as, to defeat 
us in competition would have been one victory, and to have a Matheson Joint 
Pipe line near San Francisco — to refer to — would have been another. 

Many water works contractors asked for our prices of pipe to figure on 
in connection with pipe laying, and we gave them the same prices as bid di- 
rectly by ourselves. The Matheson Joint Pipe people also submitted a sepa- 
rate bid for pipe laying, and contractors said the Matheson bid for laying 
pipe was near cost as could be figured — in fact, everything went to show, that 
the Matheson people were making a desperate effort to secure the entire con- 
tract. 

By comparing their bid with ours it appeared that they were about 
$1,700 under us, and then there was general rejoicing and hand-shaking in 
the " Matheson Joint " corner. It was not until the engineer had tabulated 
the bids, however, and taken the work by divisions (which bids were covered 
in blanket form) that the Matheson Pipe representatives were aware that 
they were not the lowest bidders as a whole, and when the engineer recom- 
mended that the before mentioned amount of lap-welded pipe be used, this 
portion of the work by divisions made us $1,200 under the Matheson Joint. 

The Matheson representatives then awakened the sleeping joker which 
they had inserted in their bid, viz.: " that if permitted to bring their pipe 
by steamer they would make a reduction equal to the difference between the 
then rail freight and the steamer rate they could get." Of course, we 
fought this proposition, and won. 

They then asked for a postponement of the award from Saturday until 
Monday night, so that they could get testimonials, which they assured the 
Council, would be so satisfactory that the Council would be justified in pay- 
ing them $1,200 more on this contract. Feeling confident that there were no 
testimonials to fear, we made no objection to the extension asked for. 

We left the Matheson Joint Pipe representatives to search the country 
for testimonials and we sent out telegrams to a few of our customers who 
had used the Converse Joint Pipe. Perhaps you can imagine our surprise, 
when, on Monday evening the Board met and asked the representatives of 
the Matheson Joint Pipe "to proceed with their arguments and submit the 
testimonials which the Matheson people claimed would sweep the Converse 
Joint Pipe off the face of the earth." The Matheson orator stated " that 
there was no difference between the two pipes — they were both good as they 
were both made by the largest manufacturers of that class of goods in the 
world, etc., etc." The Council then insisted that the Matheson Joint Pipe 
representatives should produce the many testimonials which they had prom- 
ised to produce, but the Matheson representatives could not even state a 
point on the Pacific Coast where their pipe was in use, and as they failed to 
make good their claims, for which they had asked and received a two days' 
extension of time, they were beaten. 



291 




292 




293 







' 



294 








'' J 



MATHESON JOINT UNABLE TO GIVE RECORDS. 295 

The freight "Joker " was then resurrected for the third time and put on 
exhibition again by the Matheson Pipe representatives, but to no purpose. 

The telegrams we had received were submitted, but the Council had but 
one of them (that from Tuscarora) read. The question of awarding contract 
was then put and every member of the Council voted to award the contract 
to Riffle & Hinkle, engineers and contractors, of Portland, Oregon, they to 
use the National Tube Works Company's Lap-Welded Pipe fitted with Con- 
verse Patent Lock Joint, to the amount herein named. 

Bedlam reigned supreme in. the Matheson Pipe Joint corner ; their 
representatives were frantic with rage ; one of them, with fists clenched and 
waving wildly in the air, informed the Board that they would compel the 
Board to give them the contract if they had to take the case to the highest 
Court in the United States, and then, sank gently into his chair — apparently 
exhausted. 

Thus closed one of the hardest fought battles for supremacy on the 
Pacific Coast. 'Tis the old, old story — that (even in business matters) truth 
is mighty and will prevail. 

The telegrams which our Mr. Thomas W. Brooks sent out — above 
referred to, were as follows — 

Please wire T. W. Brooks, Vallejo, Cal., before five P. M., at our ex- 
pense, total amount Converse Pipe in your system and cost if any of repairs 
since completed. 

(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company. 

The same message was sent to each of the following people, and the 
replies were respectively as follows — 

Santa Rosa, Cal., April 3d, 1893. 
T. W. Brooks, Vallejo, Cal. — Used 26,000 feet Converse Pipe at Ukiah, 
no repairs since completion. 

(Signed) J. H. Brush. 

Tuscarora, Nev., April 3d, 1893. 
T. IV. Brooks, \ T allejo, Cal. — Laid 13 miles 8-inch Converse Joint Pipe 
during fall of 1888 — Highest pressure in Independence Valley of 360 lbs. per 
square inch — Cost of repairs to date $78.00. 

(Signed) H. W. Coffin, Supt. Water Company. . 

San Bernardino, Cal., April 3d, 1893. 
T. IV. Brooks, Vallejo, Cal. — Nineteen % Miles Converse Pipe in this 
city in use about three years — Pressure from 75 to no lbs. — Cost of repairs 
less than $10.00 per year — Pipe shows no sign of rust. 

(Signed) George M. CoouEy. 

San Diego, Cae., April 3d, 1S93. 
T. IV. Brooks, Vallejo, Cal. — Have 20 Miles Converse Pipe in our sys- 
tem — Most of it under pressure of 160 lbs. — Some under pressure of 240 lbs. 
Cost of repairing joints has not exceeded $20.00 in five years. 

(Signed) E. Winsby, Supt. San Diego Water Company. 
(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company. 



296 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



San Francisco, Nov. 21st, 1S94. 
Mr. E. C. Converse, G. M. & V. P. National Tube Works Co. 

By to-day's mail we send you twelve photographs, eleven taken during 
the construction of the 8" and 10" Converse Joint Pipe line for the Vallejo 
City Water Works, and one showing 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe stored in 
our warehouse in this city; we trust you will find them of interest. We 
have also forwarded the same number to our New York office. 

We enclose you a copy of the specifications we submitted at Vallejo. 
(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co. 

per Thos. W. Brooks. 

Vaeeejo Specification. 

1 — All lap-welded pipe herein specified to be manufactured of wrought- 
iron or steel plate. 

2 — All iron or steel plate to be of uniform thickness and free from scale, 
rust, flaws, splits and other defects. 

3 — If pipe is made from wrought-iron plate the iron must be tough and 
pliable and have a tensile strength of not less than 45,000 lbs. per square 
inch, and not more than 50,000 lbs. per square inch, and to have an elastic 
limit of at least 40$ of the tensile strength of the material, and to permit of 
cold scarfing and bending without cracking. 

4 — If pipe is made from steel plate the steel must be mild, soft steel 
homogeneous and uniform in structure, pliable in character throughout the 
plate of which it is made, and to have a tensile strength of not less than 
50,000 lbs., nor more than 65,000 lbs. per square inch, and to have an elastic 
limit of at least 30,000 lbs. per square inch; to permit of cold scarfing at 
the edges and doubling back to close contact by hammering without crack- 
ing, all plate before being manufactured into pipe to be free from rust, scale 
or surface defects. 

5 — All pipe shall be lap-welded in same manner as lap-welded boiler 
tubes, which is known as the roller process of welding. 

6 — After pipes are welded the ends shall be turned or otherwise made 
true, that they will butt together perfectly in the joint. 

7 — After being welded each end and every length of pipe shall be tested 
to a hydraulic pressure per square inch as follows : 8 and 10-inch pipe, 400 
lbs. ; 12-inch, 300 lbs. 

8 — All diameters to be 8 inch, 10-inch and 12-inch, and to be inside or 
outside at your option, as per prices submitted on bid form. 

9 — The guages used in pipe, whether made of steel or iron, shall be as 
follows : 

8-inch o. d., No. 10^ 8-inch i. d. , No. 10^ 

10-inch " No. 10 10-inch " No. 10 

12-inch " No. 8 12-inch " No. 8 

All guages to be Birmingham Wire Guage, and to be as accurate as 
good mill practice will permit. 

10 — All pipe to be provided with a Converse Lock Joint ; to be lock- 
leaded and calked to one end of pipe, and the other end of pipe shall have 
two good strong rivets on each side of the pipe to fit the Converse Lock 
Joint. 

1 1 — After the Converse Lock Joint has been locked and leaded to the 



297 



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299 












Vallejo, Cal.— Laying 10-Inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 



300 




♦* \ • .-',»•■. 



Vallejo, Cal.— 10-Inch Converse Joint Pipe Line, Laid without the Use of Specials. 



301 



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Vallejo, Cal.— 10-Inch Converse Joint Pipe Line, Laid without the Use of Specials. 



302 




303 




: 





304 




CONDEMNED FOR BEING TOO GOOD ! 305 



pipe, the pipe and the cast-iron hub forming the joint will be immersed in 
best mixtures of coal tar and asphaltum or asphaltum and crude oil, the 
mixture and the coating to be to the entire satisfaction of the Chief Engineer 
in charge of the Vallejo Water Works, the pipe to remain in the mixture 
sufficiently long to insure the coating adhering closely to the material, the 
coating composition to be carefully heated to temperature of not less than 
300 degrees F. The pipe must remain in the mixture for such length of 
time as experience may determine to be necessary. 

All pipe to be delivered f. o. b., cars in good condition, at such points 
on line of railway at Vallejo or Cordelia, or such intermediate railway sta- 
tions as may be desired. 

VENEZUELA. 

There was an inquiry not long since for 12 miles of 24-inch 
pipe for the government. Through our friends Scholtz, Sanchez 
& Company, we bid on Converse Joint Pipe, and we referred to 
the rising mains by us at Guatemala and other South American 
jobs. We finally concluded to send a joint to the government, 
which we did. Now the report comes back that they don't 
want that kind of pipe at all; that it is the best pipe and joint 
that was ever submitted, and would practically last forever, 
which would not be prudent, because they want something that 
will play out every two or three years — hence the decision to use 
Belgium riveted pipe. The report from Venezuela is as follows: 

New York, Oct. 10, 1S93. 
E. C. Converse, Gen. Man. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

Our bid on the 12 miles of 24-inch pipe has been rejected, and the 
reason for this is unique. Scholtz, Sanchez & Company have a letter from 
Venezuela, stating that our pipe and joint is the best they have ever seen ; 
that it would practically last forever, but that it was too good for their use 
there ; that they wanted something that would burst and wear out after a 
few years' service ; and that, therefore, they are going to replace the pre- 
sent worn-out riveted mains, which came from Belgium, with the same 
kind of pipe made in that country. 

(Signed) National Tube Works Co. 

To have our pipe rejected on such ground is the highest 
compliment which could possibly have been paid us, and it is 
worthy of mention. Every new set of officials have to make 
money, and one can readily understand why our pipe, fitted with 
the Converse Lock Joint, is not suitable for that sort of figuring. 



VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA. 

One of the most interesting records of the durability, ser- 
viceability, minimum friction and cleanliness of wrought-iron 



306 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



pipe is the case of the seven miles of ten-inch pipe, bringing 
water from Marlette Lake and Dalls Creek, in the Sierra 
Mountains, to Virginia City. 

This feat of engineering was so daring and successful as to 
form the subject of several articles in the engineering papers 
published at the time of its conception and accomplishment. 
On page 489 of Fanning's " Treatise on Hydraulics and Water 
Supply Engineering," we find the following reference to this 
line of pipe: 

Some of these wrought-iron pipes, in siphons, are subject to great pres- 
sure, as, for instance, in the Virginia City, Nevada, supply main leading from 
Marlette Lake. This main is eleven and one-half inches in diameter [Mr. 
Fanning is mistaken on this point ; it is ten and three-fourth inches outside 
diameter], and 37,100 feet in length, and crosses a deep valley between the 
lake upon one mountain and Virginia City upon another. The inlet, 
where the pipe receives the water of the lake, is 2,098 feet above the lowest 
depression of the pipe in the valley, where it passes under the Virginia & 
Truckee Railroad, and the delivery end is 1,528 feet above the same 
depression. A portion of the pipe is subject to a steady static strain of 750 
pounds per square inch. 

Deeming that a record of this line of pipe would be valuable, 
we wrote the Superintendent of the Virginia & Gold Hill Water 
Company, Mr. J. B. Overton, to know about its durability, its 
serviceability, its cost of maintenance, and whether or not it 
showed any signs of tubercular incrustation, or other formations 
on the inside. 

We herewith reproduce Mr. Overton's answer covering these 
points. Mr. Overton is so well known as an efficient and con- 
scientious engineer as to render a record from his pen a complete 
answer to any and all inquiries on these subjects: 

The Virginia and Goi,d Hii,e Water Company, \ 
Virginia City, Nev., March 17, 1885. } 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiries of February 24th, I have to say that the 
ten-inch lap-welded pipe furnished by you appears to be as good to-day as 
it was when put down in 1875. The inside is as free from incrustation 
and as smooth as the day it was first in use. Except in the repairing of 
several breaks that were occasioned by the mismanagement of an employe, 
there has not been $10 expended on that pipe since the laying of it was 
completed. The light eighteen-iuch pipe which I bought of your company 
in 1876 has been in constant use, and has not been looked at, and has given 
no trouble, nor has it cost a cent since laying. 

(Signed) J. B. Overton, Supt. 



FRICTION— COMPARATIVE TEST. 307 



Difference in Friction between Converse Joint Lap- 
Welded Pipe and Riveted Pipe. 

The two parallel lines of water mains conveying water from 
Dall's Creek, up in the Sierra Mountains, near Lake Tahoe, to 
Virginia City, Nev. , form a practicable demonstration of the 
difference in friction between lap-welded pipe and riveted pipe. 

One line is 12-inch riveted pipe, the other line is our 10-inch 
lap-welded pipe. The distance is about seven miles. 

After the completion of the 10-inch lap-welded line, its 
capacity was tested as compared with the original 12-inch riv- 
eted pipe, and the lap-welded line was found to deliver nearly 
2,500,000 gallons per day, while the riveted pipe delivered only 
2,000,000 gallons in the same time, under the same head and 
precisely the same conditions in every respect. 

The success of this style of pipe, in such a case as that just 
cited, ought to satisfy the most skeptical of its entire practica- 
bility, as well as its vast superiority over any other style. 



WAHPETON, DAKOTA. 

Wahpeton, Dakota, Sept. 24, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I turned the water into these mains on Saturday last, and, in the after- 
noon of Sunday, after we had excluded all the air, put on a pressure of 120 
pounds per square inch, which broke one service clamp on an 8-inch line 
(very defective casting) and developed a small leak about the size of a lead 
pencil point on a 6-inch line. Since then have carried about 80 to 100 
pounds in day time and 40 to 50 at night to see if we had any more open- 
ings, but have none ; can run up the pressure, lock it in, and it will lay 
there solid. 

To-day we had our test ; threw five streams of water at one time about 
120 to 130 feet in height, varying on account of the wind. So tight are our 
mains that we can do this with one pump. We had quite a number of 
visitors, including Mr. C. E. Gray, Sr., and Mr. H. C. Johnson, Manager 
for Worthington Company. I believe that the two streams thrown over our 
Court House were over 140 feet high. Mr. Johnson ran our pumps up to 
140 pounds and threw streams at 120 to 130 pounds all this afternoon. He 
will probably be in Chicago Monday, and I would like to have you get his 
description of this plant. Four miles or more of Kalamein pipe and only 
two leaks. What does that mean anyhow ? I can scarcely realize it, sup- 
plying the city to-night with our boiler feeder pump ; can do so both night 
and day, except in case of fire. 

Our pump station is very neatly papered, with deep gold border and 
gilt center pieces, being grained now in light and dark ash. The pumps are 



SOS FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ornamented by handsome scroll work and high colors on green bronze and 
Indian red background. 

This ornamentation, together with our nickel plated injector, gauges 
and engine registers, presents a handsome appearance. Our pipe is painted 
black, the fittings blue and bluff, and all the valve-bodies vermillion. 
" She's a daisy " and no mistake. 

(Signed) E. R. Davenport, 

Contractor and Builder of Gas and Water Works. 



Office of Wahpeton Water Works, 
City of Wahpeton, Lessee. 
Wahpeton, North Dakota, Dec. 4th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I will let you know about the Kalamein pipe. 

It is carrying from 40 to 60 pounds pressure and 100 pounds fire pressure. 
The annual cost of repairs is about $0.15. 

The condition of the pipe is good, and its internal condition as clean as 
a silver dollar. 

It has no effect on the water. 

The cost of lead and labor in laying it is about one-half, when com- 
pared with cast-iron pipe. 
It is laid in alkali soil. 

I think it is the cleanest pipe I ever saw in water works, and think 
there should be no other used for that purpose. 

(Signed) T. F. Doyle, 

Chief Engineer and Plumber for the last 4 years. 



Walla Walla Water Company, 
Walla Walla, Wash., Oct. 29th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of the 20th at hand and contents noted. My experience with 
your Kalamein pipe has been very satisfactory. True, we have not used it 
any length of time (about four years), but it has given entire satisfaction. 

We carry 30 pounds pressure. 

No breaks. 

Repairs : None. 

Condition : Good. 

Saving in lead and labor over cast-iron : One-half. 

Character of soil : Gravel, Alkali and Clay. 

As to the internal condition — can't say, but dare say it is as good as 
new, as the water we use is very pure. 

Have no cast-iron pipe in use — it is too expensive. 

Hoping this will be satisfactory, I remain, 

(Signed) J. F. Bowman, Supt. 

WARM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA. 
Warm Springs, Alameda County, Cal., Dec. 12th, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of Dec. 2d in regard to the Converse Joint Pipe 
I purchased from you some time ago, I would say that the pipe has been in 



THE WORLD'S FAIR LINE. 309 

use about three years and is in good condition. I found it very easy to put 
together and it is satisfactory in every respect. 

(Signed) Josiah Stanford. 

Warm Springs, Cal., Oct. 31st, 1S92. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of the 14th, I would say that the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint Kalaniein Pipe which I purchased in 1887 from your 
agents, Messrs Dunham, Carrigan &;Co., has given entire satisfaction. It 
is laid in adobe soil in some places and in lime rock and sand in other 
sections, and the pipe is free from rust both inside and outside and is in 
perfect condition. 

I consider it the best pipe I have ever used, being easily laid and lasting 
well, besides allowing the water to pass the joints without friction. 

(Signed) J. W. Stanford. 



WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN. 

Of course you visited the World's Fair, at Chicago, in 1893, 

and it necessarily followed that you indulged more or less in 

the delightful water brought from the Waukesha Springs in 

Wisconsin, a distance of 104 miles. You are further familiar 

with the fact that we furnished the pipe that received the water 

at the springs and delivered it at the Fair grounds in its original 

purity. Read what John W. Alvord, Chief Engineer, says of the 

pipe : 

Office of D. H. Burnham, Director of Works, 

World's Columbian Exposition, Jackson Park, 

Chicago, III., October 27th, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your inquiry as to our experience in constructing and 
operating the Waukesha Pipe Line for the purpose of conveying spring 
water from Waukesha County to Chicago and the World's Fair, I would say : 
That after a most searching and careful investigation of the various kinds 
of pipe, covering a period of over six months, and the expenditure of several 
thousands of dollars, we decided to place the order for the entire one 
hundred and four miles of pipe with you, selecting your lap-welded wrought- 
iron pipes, tested at your mills to a pressure of seven hundred pounds per 
square inch, which pipe we had tested and inspected, as shipped by our own 
inspectors, with the result that, we think (and our operation of the finished 
line confirms our opinion), that we have as near a perfect line as it is possible 
to secure. All the pipe was coated inside and out with Maltha, which has 
proven that it did not in the slighest degree affect the water, and was a 
certain and sure protection to the pipe as against rust or corrosion. The 
pipe to-day being, as far as we can judge, entirely unaffected, and in as 
good condition as when laid. 

Our line was tested to a pressure of three hundred pounds, and is 
operated under a maximum hydrostatic pressure of two hundred and fifty 
pounds per square inch, and is 6^5 inches in diameter. 



310 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We desire to express to you our full appreciation of the manner and 
promptness with which the order was executed. We receiving the whole 
of the one hundred and four miles in about seventy working days, and lay- 
ing it in about the same length of time. We have never had any breaks or 
leaks due in any way to defects on the pipe. No leaks of any consequence 
have been developed since the line was completed and placed in operation. 
(Signed) John W. Alvord, 

Chief Engineer Hygeia Company. 



McElroy Tai^ks at Length on Hygeia Company's Water. 

James E. EcElroy General Manager, had a great deal to say yesterday 
about the Hygeia Water Company. It was the first time that Mr. McElroy 
had consented to talk freely on this subject. He had entered into extensive 
explanation of many things that have been charged against his enterprise. 
* * * 

"When I proposed to give the World's Fair people a bond of one 
hundred thousand dollars to furnish pure mineral water, I meant just what 
I said. * * * The water comes from Waukesha Township, Waukesha 
County, and is the equal of any water that can be found in the village of 
Waukesha As an evidence of my good intentions in the matter, I wrote a 
letter to the Fair officials to-day requesting them to appoint a chemist to 
test this water as it comes from our pipes on the Fair grounds as often as 
once in every two weeks and publish the results. If any competent analysis 
fails to show that it is better than any water shipped to Chicago, then I 
will quit the business. I am satisfied now that there is no water so chemi- 
cally pure or free from organic or other objectionable matter as the water 
coining through our pipe line. 

" Right here I want to correct a statement published some time ago to 
the effect that our pipes are lined with lead. That is not true. On the 
other hand, they are lined with California Maltha. * * * I spent $8,000 
experimenting before I got hold of the material finally adopted and used, 
and it is probably the most expensive material ever put into pipes." * * * 
Mr. McElroy declared that the Hygeia Company's trouble could all be 
traced to Andrew Frame, a Waukesha banker, who, he exclaimed, 
" attempted to force me to buy the Waukesha water works, * * * but 
I soon discovered, through an investigation, that the water works were not 
what they had been represented to be, * * * Had it not been for the 
determination to make us purchase the water works, there would never 
have been any pipe line litigation." 

Mr. Butler, of the Ways and Means Committee, made a brief statement 
to the effect that the Hygeia Company had kept faith with the Exposition. 
— Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1S93. 



Waukesha Hygeia Mineral Springs Company, ) 
Chicago, Iu,., Oct. 25, 1894. \ 
W. R. Oakes, Esq., Sabula, Iozva. 

Understanding that you are contemplating the construction of a water 
works system, and that vou are considering the use of a portion of the steel 



TESTED TO 700 POUNDS PRESSURE. 311 

pipe that was made for us by the National Tube Works Co. , and at their 
request we write you in regard to the same. 

When we determined to construct the pipe line to convey water from 
Waukesha to Chicago, we employed the best engineering talent that we 
could find to determine the very best material to use in order to make a 
model line. The distance between the two points was about one hundred 
miles, and the pressure under which the line would have to operate 
was closely approximating 240 lbs. to the sqare inch. This necessitated a 
strong pipe. 

We were also interested in securing a pipe that would give us the 
greatest carrying capacity for the size used. We had our engineer thoroughly 
and carefully investigate all styles of pipe that were used for conveying 
water ; also the different kinds of coating used with a view of securing that 
which would not affect the water passing through the pipe, and at the same 
time secure perfect protection against corrosion. 

The result of our investigations was that we placed an order with the 
National people for 102 miles of steel pipe fitted with patent recessed coup- 
lings, and coated with Maltha. Our contract required that all this pipe be 
tested in the presence of our own experts to a hydrostatic pressure of 700 
lbs. per square inch. Every length was so tested, and the result has been 
that we have an eminently satisfactory line in every way. 

We found that we had ordered more pipe than was required to complete 
our line, and the excess is now in the hands of the National people, and, if 
you secure a portion of it for your line, we feel sure that you will be as well 
satisfied as we, and will have a pipe far superior to that ordinarily put out 
for this purpose. 

If we can give you any further information in regard to this material 
we should be glad to do so. 

Waukesha Hygeia M. S. Co., 

By C. C. PREST, Asst. G. Mg'r. 



WELLSVILLE, NEW YORK. 

WEI,LSVIU,E, N. Y., March 12, 1S85. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are in receipt of your favor asking us about our pipe system, which 
was laid with your Converse Lock Joint Kalamein and Asphalted wrought- 
iron pipe, both as to the satisfaction it gave on the original tests, as well as 
subsequently ; also the cost of maintenance. 

In reply, we beg to state that our system consists of five miles of your 
pipe, from ten inches down to four inches — gravitation. Maximum pres- 
sure, eighty pounds. 

At the public test the system was found to be perfectly tight. It was 
also noticed that the fire streams were more powerful than we had estimated. 
We attribute this to the minimum friction of your pipe. 

As to the cost of maintenance, I am pleased to note that during the time 
we have operated these works — about eighteen months — -there has been no 
break or leak of any description, and the cost of maintenance is simply 
nothing. We do not see how it could be less. 



312 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We think we have one of the finest works in New York State. The 

local papers, as well as the local opinions, confirm our belief in this respect. 

We might further add, as a matter of interest, that the pipe shows no 

sign of incrustation or deterioration of any kind whatever, and seems in as 

good condition as when it was first laid. 

(Signed) WeeesvieeE Water Company, 

Per W. S. Kuhn, Treas. 



Wehsvieee, New York, March n, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

With regard to the working of our pipe system, which, as you are 
aware, is your lap-welded wrought-iron Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe, 
Kalamein and asphalted, I would say that thus far, since the completion of 
our works fifteen months ago, it has given good satisfaction. We have not 
as yet been able to discover a cracked or bursted pipe in our whole system, 
which certainly seems to be strong evidence of the strength and quality of 
your pipe. Wherever uncovered the pipes showed a fresh appearance, and 
the coating on them well preserved. With the short experience we have 
had with your pipe, we feel that we can safely say that it is fully equal, if 
not superior, to cast-iron pipe for water. Any further information in regard 
to our pipe system that you may desire we shall be pleased to give you. 
(Signed) John McInTyre, 

Supt. Wellsville Water Co. 



WeelsvieeE, New York, Jan. 29th, 1890. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of the 27th inst. is at hand. I found from two years trial in 
Florida that the soil rusts cast-iron more quickly than wrought-iron. I 
found that the artesian water furnishes a black coating on inside wrought- 
iron pipes, through which it flows at a modorate rate, which practically 
arrests and prevents rusting on the inside of the pipe. I found that the best 
black coated cast-iron pipe I could get — inside and out — was quickly brought 
under the influence of the artesian water to such an extent as to remove the 
coating, scale it off and show rust inside of two years and also show rust- 
colored spots from the soil's action on the outside. 

After fully satisfying myself that wrought-iron was much the better, I 
so advised and have furnished for the St. Augustine (Fla.) Water Works, its 
entire system, with line pipe of standard weight. I have also provided a 
paint which is put on the pipe, couplings and fittings, after laid in line with 
all joints made up — on skids over trench — then lowered in after drying, and 
finally covered. The wrought-iron pipe in this way looks as bright — i. e., 
the paint — after five years, as when new, but the cast-iron fittings show rust 
spots through this paint after twelve months in ground. I have, therefore, 
sold nothing in the South Atlantic States but wrought-iron line pipe and 
drive pipe — for water works and Artesian wells. I understand you are now 
making some 10-in., 12-in. and 15-in. drive pipe to fill an order I lately placed 
with your New York house. 



KALAME1N UNAFFECTED— CAST-IRON DESTROYED. 313 



I am getting ready to go South, have written very hurriedly and not to 
my satisfaction. If you desire any further information ; analysis of the 
Artesian water or otherwise, please address me at St. Augustine, Fla., box 
431, and I shall be pleased to give you what further information I can. 
(Signed) C. L. Parker, C. E. 



WHITEWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA. 

Office of Northwestern Transfer Company, { 
Whitewood, S. D. , October 31st, 1892. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

Answering yours of 20th inst., would say that your Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe has given good satisfaction— -remarkably so — ■ 
when compared with cast-iron pipe. Our water has an unusual effect on 
iron pipe, corroding cast-iron pipe to a very considerable extent, but with 
your Kalamein pipe it is to-day as clean and in as good condition, both inside 
and out, as when put in the ground two years ago. We had occasion to take 
out a length of Kalamein pipe a few weeks ago to insert a valve and we 
found the Kalamein pipe — as described above — perfectly clean and free from 
rust. The character of the soil is red gypsum. We have not had a break 
or repair of any kind in the Kalamein pipe service, though, of course, the 
pressure is not very great — about 40 to 55 lbs. , the difference being accounted 
for by the grade of our streets. 

Any other information will be furnished, if required, for we are so 
satisfied with your Kalamein pipe ourselves that we can conscientiously 
recommend it. 

(Signed) H. T. Cooper, Superintendent, 

Whitewood Water Works Co. 



YAQUIJKTA, OEEGOU. 



Oregon Pacific Railroad Co., ) 
Corv ai,i,is, Oregon, Dec. 24th, 1889. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of 3d inst., referring to Converse pipe, referred to Mr. A. A. 
Scheuck, Div. Eng., who replies this date : 

" I had not much faith in the pipe until I saw it tested under 140 feet 
head ; I now think well of it. 

(Signed) Arch. A. Schenck, Div. Engineer." 

Mr. Schenck had charge of laying this pipe at Yaquina. 

(Signed) C. C. HoguE, Auditor. 

Corvalus, Oregon, Oct. 20th, 1892. 
Mr. A. J. Guilford, National Tube Works Co. 

I am in receipt of a letter addressed to the Divisional Engineer of the 
Oregon Pacific Railroad Company propounding certain questions as to the 
satisfaction of the Converse Lock Joint Kalamein Pipe, etc., which we pur- 
chased from Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company, San Francisco, Cal. 



314 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The pipe referred to was laid at our terminal works at Yaquina under 
the supervision of the Master Mechanic, and I have referred your letter to 
him, and I presume he will reply to same. His address is, Mr. I. Hulme, 
M.M., Yaquina, Benton Co., Oregon. 

(Signed) Wm. M. Hoag, Manager. 



Yaouina, Oregon, Oct. 226., 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of the 14th inst. to the division engineer of this company 
was referred to me by our general manager, Mr. Wm. M. Hoag. I shall 
reply to same with pleasure. I had charge of laying the 4 and 6-inch Con- 
verse Patent Tock Joint Kalamein Pipe at this point three years ago, and 
up to the present time it has given entire satisfaction. I cannot say as to 
the internal condition of the pipe, but should judge it good, as the water 
leaves it in the same condition as it enters. The pipe is laid in loose sand- 
stone and on trestle work. We carry 60 pounds pressure. Up to date the 
pipe has not cost one cent for repairs. Trusting this will be of service to 
you, I am, 

(Signed) I. Hueme, Master Mechanic, 

Oregon Pacific Raieroad, Yaquina, Oregon. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 315 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER MAINS. 

Many volumes would be required to give even a digest of 
the accidents that for years — ever since cast-iron pipe was first 
used for water mains — have been of almost daily occurrence. 
We simply quote a few of the more serious cases. The first 
item we will mention is from the " Engineering News " (page 
217) of Sept. 8, 1892. 

Breaks in Water Mains or accidents to pumping machinery affecting to 
a greater or less degree the water supplies furnished by five different water- 
works to seven cities and towns, all east of the Mississippi River, occurred 
during the five days, Aug. 27, to 31, inclusive. 

Perhaps the most serious break was in connection with the works at 
Newport, Ky., which also supply Belleview and Dayton, Ky., where early 
in the morning of Aug. 29, or on the previous night the supply main broke 
about two miles from the city, cutting off the entire supply from the town 
for about 36 hours. Fortunately no fire occurred while the water was cut 
off, but it appears that the people had to shift for water for ordinary purposes 
as best they could, while some of the factories shut down. About 500,000 
gallons of water Avas stored in 20 cisterns throughout the city, but these 
would afford only a slight fire protection for a city of more than 25,000 
inhabitants. A connection with the Covington Water Works had been sug- 
gested some time ago for use in just such an accident as this. 

At Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 30, a schooner grounded on a 20-inch 
main laid beneath a creek to supply South Wilmington. For an hour the 
waste into the creek lowered the pressure in the main part of the city, but 
the shutting of a gate cut off the water from the break and restored the 
pressure in the larger part of the city. A small temporary pipe was at once 
proposed to furnish some water to South Wilmington and steps are being 
taken to repair the break. 

At Atlantic City, N. J., on Aug. 31, the supply main from the main-land 
crippled the service of the Atlantic City Water Company, but it had a stand- 
pipe full of water which gave a partial supply until the break could be tem- 
porarily repaired. In addition the Consumers' Water Company also sup- 
plies water in Atlantic City * * * 

A moral to all the above tales is obvious, and, also the remedy for such 
difficulties, which has been pointed out in these columns in times past 
* * * Fortunately no fires occurred in any of the communities 
mentioned above, but it was only by chance that they did not. 



516 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ALLEGHENY", PENNSYLVANIA. 
Will Pay Damage Claims. 
The Water Committee of Allegheny, met last evening and approved the 
report of the sub-committee appointed to pass upon the claims of persons 
whose property was damaged by the bursting of the 30-inch water main 
on Howard Street. The report was referred to the Finance Committee of 
the Council. — Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 5, 1893. 



AUBURN, MAINE. 

Cast-iron Pipe Cannot Be Depended Upon. 

Foss, Packard & Co., of Auburn, Me., will build a reservoir 011 top of 
their factory for the storage of water for use in case of a break in the water 
mains or a lack of water from any other cause. 

A similar provision has been made at the Munroe, Packard & Linscott 
Factory. — Fire and Water, January 21, iSg3. 



BATH, MAINE. 

Nearly a Dozen Business Buildings Destroyed at a Loss of 

$400,000. 

Bath, Me., Jan. 28. — Fire in this city to-day swept away much of the 
business part of the city, building after building succumbing to the flames. 
Some of the largest stores in the city were burned and their valuable stock 
destroyed. The fire started in a stable in the rear of the Sagadahoc build- 
ing. The Fire Department responded promptly, but the water works system 
was useless, a big break in the main line having occurred last night. When 
the alarm was given at the City Hall the water pressure in the street mains 
was only fourteen pounds. A second alarm was turned out, summoning 
three steamers, which were set at work at the river. Meanwhile the lire had 
made rapid progress and was spreading on all sides. 

Mayor Shaw sent for aid — Brunswick, Portland and Lewiston responding. 
The engines on arriving were placed at the river. It was nearly six hours 
before the fire was under control. The militia were called out to protect the 
property removed from the buildings. 

The fire swept away Sagadahoc building, containing the largest hotel 
in the city, the Sagadahoc Bank, Marine Bank and several stores and offices, 
including the granite building occupied by the largest dry goods house in 
the city, the Savings Bank building, the Bath Times editorial rooms, the 
Union building, Fuller's Central building, and a large tenement house 
occupied by six families. The total loss is estimated at $400,000. — New York 
Sun, January 29, 1894. 

Bath Me., Water Supply. — The 12-inch water main across the river at 
Bath, Me., recentty separated or " pulled apart " at one of the joints, cut- 
ting off the water supply from the city. Temporary repairs afforded a partial 
supply and measures will be taken, as soon as the season permits, for still 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 317 



further repairs so that the city may have its full supply again as soon as 
possible. — The Engineering Record, February 18, /Sgj. 



BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Ali, Traffic Stopped. 

That immense fountain in the Frog Pond, in Boston Common, which, 
in the summer time, belches forth with an angry snort, sending a powerful 
column of water high into the air, whence it returns to the pond again in a 
sparkling spray, had a rival the other day. This zealous rival was not situ- 
ated in the midst of a pretty pond surrounded with a beautiful park, but in 
the middle of one of Boston's most frequently traversed thoroughfares. 

A break in a 36-inch water main, which lies buried under the entire 
length of Tremont Street, caused the trouble and stopped all traffic. Several 
of the gates in the neighborhood were closed and a large hole dug with the 
intention of repairing the break. 

Two men were in the hole, which was a large one and several feet deep, 
when suddenly and with an angry roar the water rushed in upon them 
quickly, filling the cavity and completely burying the men in a furious boil- 
ing whirlpool. They were rescued from their perilous position in a half 
drowned and frozen condition, and, after they had partaken of hot drinks 
and had a change of clothing, they were sent home more fully to recover 
from the ill effects of their adventure. At times during the afternoon the 
water spurted up in an immense column to a great height and threatened 
disaster to the whole neighborhood. All the gates in the neighborhood 
were shut, and still the water rushed forth. Tater it was found that a gate 
had also broken down.— Fire and Water, February 10, 1&94. 



BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. 

The following refers to "the new 48-inch cast iron water 
main (now complete)," at Brooklyn, New York: 

Each main being 12. 2 long and two inches thick. This cast- 
iron main not being in service one year at the time of its burst- 
ing. This new cast-iron main, as will be noticed, burst in four 
different places. 

Before giving an account of the bursting of this new 48-inch 
cast-iron water main, we quote from the annual report of the 
Department of City Works for the year 1891, made to the Com- 
mon Council of the City of Brooklyn, February 1, 1892. 

Authorized bond issue. New48-iuch main, $700,000.00. * * * The 
break in the old conduit occurred. * * * In a few hours the entire water 
supply of Brooklyn was cut off. The break occurred on Saturday, Novem- 
ber 21st. Seventy-eight thousand feet of new pipe had been laid by the 
contractors along side of the old conduit, and but 1,000 feet remained to be 
laid to complete the entire relief conduit when the accident took place. 



318 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Immediately on notice being received of this disaster, this bureau as- 
sumed charge of the work of removing the superincumbent earth and open- 
ing the conduit; by constant and untiring labor, day and night, through 
storm and cold. What seemed a superhuman task was accomplished, and 
on Monday evening the conduit was cleared and the water passed through, 
thus re-establishing the supply. * * * A Board of Experts having been 
appointed by the Honorable Commissioner of City Works, to report this 
break, I do not deem it proper to discuss it here. * * * 

Many leaks had existed at this location for years, which, while not 
dangerous, required careful watching and allowed much loss of waters. * * * 
This was successfully done by laying a double line of 48-inch pipe through 
which the entire water supply of the city was led. * * * 

The water extension. This work has progressed rapidly and well. The 
entire extension will be completed this year. 

Contracts were let in May to the Warren Foundry and Machine Com- 
pany, the Reading Foundry Company, and the Camden Iron Works for fur- 
nishing the pipe and specials for the new 48-inch water main and connec- 
tions, and most of the pipe has been delivered. * * * 

Please bear in mind that there may be a clear understand- 
ing of the case, that the breaks mentioned occurred in the new 
48-inch cast-iron water pipe. We also invite attention to the 
fact that the 48-inch pipe was furnished by some of the oldest 
manufacturers of cast-iron pipe, viz. : Warren Foundry and 
Machine Company, Reading Foundry Company and the Camden 
Iron Works, 

A break in a force main connected with the Brooklyn water works ex- 
tension occurred a few days ago entirely cutting off the supply from that 
section of the gathering grounds of the works. * * * The break in the 
force main on the extension threw the drain entirely on the old watershed 
for a time. * * * The main which broke extends around the Baldwin 
storage reservoir. — The Engineering News, January igth, 1893. 



TO PATCH THE BROKEN PIPES WITH IRON BANDS. 
Engineer Clapp Thinks He Will be Able to Repair Brooklyn's 
Water Main by To-Night. — Very Peculiar Fractures. — Prob- 
ably Due, it is Thought, to some Defect in the Metal. — 
Hard Work to Reach the Main and Ease the Inconvenience 
of Brooklyn. 

If the expectations of Contractor Edward Freel and the hopes of En- 
gineer J. Russell Clapp, as expressed to me yesterday at Millburn, L. I., 
are realized , the four breaks at that point in the great 48-inch main of the 
Brooklyn water system should be repaired by to-night, and by to-morrow 
morning the drought-stricken community should be able to slake its thirst 
and take its bath as often as ever. 

The contractors and engineers are always sanguine. To the eye of a 
person unpracticed in digging down for and patching up broken water pipes 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 



319 



the situation at Millburn yesterday looked anything but promisiug for the 
relief of Brooklyn before Monday next at the earliest. 

It seemed more likely that the work would take until the middle of 
next week. 

There is no question that Freel and Clapp have been pushing the work 
to their utmost. Gangs of Italian laborers under five foremen, personally 
directed by Freel's son, have been at work night and day attacking the 
small mountain of frozen earth and gravel under which the 48-inch main 
first elected to crack. 

Bad Pi,ace eor a Break. 

It was the very worst spot that could have been picked out for such 
an accident. The bank of gravel, nearly forty feet high, is just west of the 
new 400,000,000 gallon reservoir to be finished in the spring. 




UNEARTHING THE BROKEN PIPE. 



It stretches from the curve or elbow, where the main turns north from 
its general direction of west, almost to the valve chamber of gate house, 
where it turns westward again. 

The first and largest break in the main is just north of the first curve. 

In the two lengths of pipe next to the north breaks Nos. 2 and 3 were 
discovered. Break No. 4, which was not reported until Thursday last, is in 
the third length north of No. 3, and is almost as serious as the first break. 

Working with one hundred and eleven men in the day time, and 
ninety-eight at night, by the light of gasoline torches, contractor Freel 
had, up to yesterday afternoon, removed that part of the forty -foot mound 
directly over the first break in the main, which was nine feet below the 
level. 

Tike a Mining Camp. 

As far as break No. 4, the upper part of the mound, which was frozen 
as hard as a rock, had been pierced by crowbars after being warmed by 
bonfires kindled on the surface. 



820 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Then the frozen crust was shattered by charges of dynamite, and huge 
hunks as solid as blocks of stone were dragged away by horses, the softer 
earth being taken out in wheelbarrows. 

Altogether the place looked like a mining camp in miniature. 

Contractor Freel's son assured me that the work of digging down to 
the pipes would be completed by last night. 

Engineer Clapp described the way in which he proposed to repair the 
breaks, and he said it ought not to take more than one day. 

The breaks were the most peculiar ones in his experience with water 
mains. Each length of the main is 12.2 long, of iron two inches thick. 

The breaks occurred in the rim end of each length, where there is a 
shoulder three inches thick. This, Mr. Clapp said, was something he had 
never known to happen before. He was at a loss to explain it, except on 
the supposition that there was some defect in the iron. 

Breaks Nos. 1 and 4 are nearly seven feet long, and as wide as one's 
hand. The others are mere cracks. 

The Repairs. 

Mr. Clapp's plan, instead of putting in new joints of pipe, is to bind up 
the fractured ones with heavy bands of iron three inches wide, drawing the 
sutures tightly together. The full water pressure, he thinks, can then be 
turned on. 

When the weather becomes milder the fractured pipe will be taken up 
and new put down. While the iron bands are being adjusted the water will 
be turned off, but Mr. Clapp said this would not materially affect the supply 
in Brooklyn. 

The situation there yesterday was slightly better than on Thursday. 
The supply of water pumped was 79,164,341 gallons, and the consumption 
76,856,010 gallons. City Works Commissioner Adams said, that with care by 
the citizens not to waste water, there need be no suffering. — New York 
Herald, January 21, 1S93. 



CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 

A CHANCE MEETING 
Between Interesting News Items and Reporters for " The Sunday 

Times."— A Strong Suspicion that Rotten Water Mains have 

been Laid in the City — Worthless Mains. — Indications that 

the City has again been Swindled. 

Complaint of an unofficial character has recently been made respecting 
the character and quality of some of the cast-iron water mains now being 
laid by the city, and with some facts in his possession a representative of 
The Times made a partial examination of the matter on yesterday. It 
appears that in May last the city authorities advertised forbids, and accepted 
the offer of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company to furnish 
1,453 tons of iron pipe of various sizes, at the rate of $23. 10 a ton, considered 
at the time to be a very low figure. The contract stipulated that the pipes 
should be of uniform thickness, good quality, and such as would cut and 
drill well. It was further conditioned that the pipe should be capable of 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 321 



standing a severe water power test. The corporation has very nearly com- 
pleted its contract, and a great many of the pipes have been laid down in 
various portions of the city. It is claimed that this has been done in the 
face of the fact that a large number of the pipes have succumbed to the 
water pressure, and that in nearly every instance the iron has shown very 
many defects whenever the surface has been broken, and an opportunity 
given to examine its true character. Some pieces of broken pipe were 
secured on yesterday which showed that the iron was very thoroughly 
honey-combed, and there were other evidences showing that it was brittle 
and liable to split in all directions whenever an attempt was made to enter 
it with a drill. These specimens are not hard to find, as somewhat more 
than one hundred pipes lie at the yards, near the Chicago Avenue bridge, 
which have been broken in handling and by the water test. The same con- 
dition of affairs is also to be found at the Twenty-second Street yards. The 
parties who have had charge of laying the pipes on various streets also 
complain that a large number of the pipes have been broken in handling, 
after having withstood the water pressure, and in nearly every instance 
have disclosed the same deplorable condition of affairs, all going to show 
that the material used is very generally bad. 

It is claimed, by those who are supposed to know, that, in a recent test 
at the Twenty-second Street yards, five pieces out of seventeen of the six- 
teen-inch pipe proved to be worthless, and nearly all demonstrated the fact 
that the iron was honey-combed and had no grain in it. The only solution 
of the matter given is that the iron itself is bad, and that good iron cannot 
be furnished at the figures mentioned in the bid. The use of this character 
of iron, it can very readily be seen, is liable to cause great expense to the 
city by the bursting of mains after the}' have been placed in the ground, 
and annoyance to property-owners in the tearing up of pavements conse- 
quent upon the condition of affairs. A reporter for the Times called upon 
City Engineer Stanton on yesterday afternoon to consult him respecting 
some of the matters mentioned. The gentleman said that all pipes were put 
to a severe water test before being used, and were also tested in other ways, 
and where any imperfections were discovered the pipes were thrown out. 
He claimed that no special complaint had been made to him respecting the 
character and quality of these particular pipes, and he had no personal 
knowledge of the disastrous result of the test made at the Twenty-second 
Street yards. If he had known of any such condition of affairs he would 
have condemned the entire lot. He claimed that imperfections were dis- 
covered in all kinds of cast-iron pipe, and that the very best of fouudrymen 
would fail at times in making perfect pipe. If there was any general defect 
in the pipe now being used by the city, he was not aware of it, and said that 
if any such condition of affairs existed as is indicated above, he would at 
once proceed to condemn it. Notwithstanding this fact, there are plenty of 
monuments of broken iron at each of the city yards to vouch for all that has 
been stated, and to an unprofessional mind it would appear that where so 
much had proven worthless, the entire batch could not be of a very high 
standard, or nearly up to what is called for by the contract. — Chicago Times, 
September 21, i8yg. 



322 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



A WATER MAIN BURSTS. 
There was a break in a big 36-inch cast-iron water main on Chicago Ave- 
nue, near Dearborn Street, yesterday morning, and as the water was forced 
out through the earth the pavement rose and fell like the waves on the 
lake. A hundred different streams started all around the vicinity of the 
break, and the water poured into the neighboring basements. Word was 
sent to the police, a guard was put around to keep children from the dan- 
gerous locality, and the water department was notified. The latter's offi- 
cials readily comprehended that a main had burst, but as there are two there, 
one a 24 and the other a 36-inch, there was some doubt as to which of these 
it was. Finally the men concluded to ascertain by shutting off the flow 
from the 24-inch pipe. This is necessarily very slow work, and after two 
hours had been spent it was ascertained that the water still poured from the 
leak. Then work was commenced on the 36-inch main, and by 2.30 o'clock 
the work was completed and the water ceased to flow. Word had not been 
sent to the pumping works, however, and the engines still continued to 
work, with a result that the other mains were unable to receive all the water. 
The pressure went up and up, and would have soon resulted in another 
burst elsewhere had it not been observed and two of the engines stopped. 

" The work of repairing the big main will go on at once," said Chief 
Engineer Gerecke, " but it will necessarily take about three days to mend 
the break. It is hard to tell what caused it — perhaps a sinking of the 
ground, or the main may have worn out. The main is plugged now at a 
distance east and west of the break, but as there is a net-work of pipes con- 
necting and re-connecting, the water will continue to pass through the 
broken main a distance beyond the plugs. Thus there will be water for all, 
only it will have less force and will not be furnished in the same quantity 
as before. The district around where the break occurred may be cut off for 
three days but not longer. — Chicago Into -Ocean, Sunday, January 2-/, 1S89. 



A BURST WATER PIPE AT LAKE. 
The city engineering department was in a quandary this morning. A 
16-inch cast-iron water main had burst at 67th street and the Fort Wayne 
railroad tracks. It is the town of Take's pipe connected with Hyde Park. 
The city could not find a stop cock in the vicinity to shut off the water, nor 
could any one be found who knew how these pipes were laid. In the mean- 
time the water kept on flowing and the ground getting softer. All that 
could be found out was that this was the first pipe run into Lake from Hyde 
Park, but where the gates were in the pipes no records in possession of the 
city would show. The result was a decision to shut down the works until 
the leak could be repaired, which would take several hours. — Chicago Even- 
ing News, September 75, i8go. 



The Water Shut Off Suddenly. The Mains on the World's 
Fair Grounds Emptied Without Warning. 
The water was turned off the mains at Sixty-fourth street which supply 
the World's Fair grounds, yesterday, and no notice was given to the man- 
agers. Supt. Besley's first intimation of the fact was the almost simultan- 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 323 



eous complaint from all over the ground that there was no water. He could 
ascertain nothing definite. The engines were set to work and the mains 
inside the in closure filled from the lagoons. In speaking of the matter Mr. 
Besley said that if a fire had broken out before the stoppage of the water was 
discovered half the buildings in course of construction might have been de- 
stroyed. It was discovered later in the day that one of the large cast-iron 
mains was broken and that the water had been shut off in order to have re- 
pairs made. — Chicago Tribune, Friday, November 6, iSgi. 



ROOKERY IS FLOODED. 
The Great Building Crippled by the Bursting oe a Main.— An 

Ocean in the Basement. — Boieer Explosion Narrowly Averted. 

—Eight and Power Plants Disabled. — Relief Slow in Coming. 

The sixteen-inch water main at the corner of Adams and La Salle 
streets burst at three o'clock this morning, and for nearly seven hours a 
roaring torrent of muddy water poured into the basements of the Rookery 
and Lakeside buildings. The fires in the engine rooms were extinguished, 
and for a long time no elevators could be run. No steam heat or electric 
light could be obtained all day, and office holders who had no gas fixtures 
were obliged to resort to candles and kerosene lamps for light. Fifteen 
inches of water stood in the basement of the Rookery building at n 
o'clock, and several stocks of electrical appliances which were badly 
damaged. The employees of the water office, in their anxiety to shut off 
the main and stop the roaring flood which was tearing up the street like a 
plowshare, cut off all the pipes and shut off the supply of water from the 
boilers in the vicinity. It was a miracle that there were no boiler explosions. 
The engineer at the Chicago Edison Company averted such a disaster by 
drawing the fire in the furnace in the nick of time. 

Narrow Escape of Workmen. 
James Graham, Superintendent of water pipe extension, arrived at 8.30 
to shut off the water, and with a gang of men to repair the break. Two of 
the workmen were overcome with gas while trying to adjust the turncock, 
and narrowly escaped asphyxiation. The men had entered the mauhole, 
and had been under ground but a moment, when Supt. Graham saw them 
fall to the ground unconscious. Graham and another employe ran hastily 
and brought the two men to the surface, where the fresh air and some 
strong coffee revived them so that they could proceed with the work. 

Help from the City Delayed. 
The watchman went to the City Hall, but the night operators in the 
fire alarm office were the only persons in the building, and all they could 
do was to make a memorandum of the trouble and promise to notify the 
water office when the officials of that department arrived. At eight o'clock 
no word had been received from the City Hall, and the water was still 
gaining on the force of men who, with brooms and mops, were trying to 
turn the flood into the sewer. Finally John F. Gilchrist, of the Chicago 
Edison Company, made a personal visit to the water office, but could find 
no one who could or would take some action towards shutting off the 



324 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



water. At 8.30 James Graham, Superintendent of water pipe extension, 
reached the scene with a force of men, but it was 10 o'clock before they 
could locate the break and shut off the main. 

Au, the Elevators Stopped. 
Meanwhile, 3,000 tenants of the Rookery were in a pretty stew. Between 
8 and 9 o'clock, when the biggest rush occurs in the building, all of the 
twelve elevators were at a standstill, for the reason that the furnace fires 
stopped the pumps that run the elevators. The elevator conductors that 
stood before their empty cars had a busy time explaining to the fast increas- 
ing crowd what had happened. Those that wanted to reach their offices im- 
mediately walked up stairs to the eighth or eleventh story, as the case might 
be, but most every one joined the crowed that gathered around the spouting 
pipe on the corner. There was no steam heat or electric light in the 
offices. In the big building there was no light but that furnished by gas, 
kerosene or tallow caudles. 

Offices Left in Darkness. 

The offices on the ground floor w T ere in the worst predicament. The 
rooms are naturally dark, shut in by big buildings on all sides and few were 
provided with gas fixtures. The Illinois Trust and Savings Bank fortunately 
had gas jets above most of their desks, but in the vaults and over the 
patrons' desks, tallow dips sputtered out a poor light. In Rea, Mendel & 
Co.'s real estate office, on the first floor, there was nothing to substitute 
for the electric light that failed. The clerks did not have to climb any 
stairs to reach their office on account of the accident, but they found them- 
selves groping around in the dark after unlocking the door. They were 
compelled to invest in candles and dispose them about the office where they 
were needed. In the offices of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Com- 
pany, Mexican National Railroad Company, Western Union Telegraph, 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company, Central Grain Stock Ex- 
change Company, American Credit Indemnity Company, and the Pond En- 
gineering Company, candles were the only lights had, and business was con- 
ducted under a great disadvantage. 

And it was chilly, too, without any steam heat. The typewriter girls 
clicked away on their machines still wearing their cloaks, and the clerks in 
the Illinois Steel Company's offices on the tenth floor, wore mufflers about 
their necks. Many business men made no attempt to do any business. 
Those having offices on the east and west sides of the building were well 
enough off for light, but the sunshine didn't furnish much warmth. 

Said City Engineer Clarke : "I was not told of the accident until 8:30 
this morning, and the first intimation anybody in the department had of the 
break was at 6:30, when the police notified Mr Graham at Douglas Park. 
Why nobody was told sooner I don't know." 

" Has the engineering department no provision for turning off the 
water promptly in such emergencies ? " 

" It has none that is likely to be effective unless the department is in- 
formed of accidents. I don't wonder that nobody in the department was 
informed of the break at 3 o'clock in the morning, for we don't have men 
on duty all night waiting for pipes to burst. (Queer remark for the City 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 325 



Engineer to make.) I don't think any body in the City Hall was to blame 
for the delay, at least nobody in the engineer's department." 

Supt. Moody said that he could not tell how long it would take to 
repair the break, and it was not possible to tell the extent of the damage. 
The break might be in the 36-inch main or the 16-inch pipe beside it. It 
could not even be determined whether the main had burst or pulled away at 
the joint. If it is a burst, Mr. Moody said, two days will be required to 
repair it. If the pipe has come apart, a few hours' work would restore it to 
its original condition. — Chicago Evening Post, November zq, iSq?. 



How Water Hammer Affects Cast-Iron Pipes. 

Water hammer in steam pipes has been a source of a great deal of 
annoyance, and many accidents have occurred from this cause. * * * 
The effect, when it occurs with any degree of intensity, is usually disastrous 
to cast-iron pipe, as the tendency of the cast-iron is not sufficient to with- 
stand the sudden blow. * * * Numerous accidents have occurred from 
the effects of water hammer, and it is only a short time since a 10-inch cast- 
iron pipe burst from this cause, and the strangest part of it is that the pipe 
broke in two places, but then that is accounted for because there was a bend 
in the pipe near the point at which one of the breaks occurred. 

A recent accident, due to water hammer, occurred to a boiler in an 
establishment near Pittsburgh, where one boiler of the battery was cut out 
by drawing the fire and shutting off the feed, the steam connection being 
left open, as was customary, although a dangerous and uneconomical prac- 
tice, * * * with the result that the boiler began jumping on its founda- 
tion and the pipes were so badly shaken as to leak at nearly every joint. 
Other damages occurred, which go to show that the force was considerable, 
as the effect was felt in nearly all parts of the battery of boilers and the 
attachments. What damage was done to the boilers is not stated, but it 
would be inferred that it was considerable.— The Manufacturer and Builder, 
November, iSg?. 

Basements Feooded with Water. 

A 4-inch gas main and a 4-inch water main were crushed in the alley 
from Clark to La Salle Streets, between Madison and Monroe Streets early 
yesterday morning, causing much inconvenience to the surrounding build- 
ings and flooding the basement to the new Y. M. C. A. building with five 
feet of water all day. The main is connected with 36-inch mains on both 
Ta Salle and Clark Streets. 

When the break was discovered early in the day, an effort was made 
to have the city shut off the water. This request was refused on the grounds 
that it would affect the entire district surrounding that district for several 
blocks. At 11 A. M. and at 3 P. M. a notice was served on all engineers 
that the water would be shut off at 5 o'clock. This was done and a city 
engine has been pumping the water out of the excavation all night. 

The Republic life building, immediately south, suffered the most. 
The broken gas main prevented the use of gas, and the building was in 
darkness except for a few electric lights. The basement was partially flooded 
with water and the water supply had been completely shut off. Several 



326 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



other buildings in the vicinity were sufferers. Enough water was secured, 
however, to run the elevators up to 6 o'clock, but steam heat was an impos- 
sibility. — Chicago Tribune, December 8, i8g2. 



Sixty-Eighth Street Pumping Works Bursts 
Another 36-inch Cross. 

During the testing of the new machinery at the 68th Street Pumpiug 
Station to-day another large 36-inch cast-iron cross was broken, causing a 
shutting down and stoppage of the test until another cross had been placed 
in position in the main. This is the second break of the kind that has taken 
place at the 68th Street Station within the past four months. Nearly the 
whole centre of the casting was blown out of its top as it lay in the ground. 

These two crosses were about two inches in thickness and just why 
they should break is a mystery unless it be that the metal of which they 
were made was entirely unfitted for the purpose. 

The engineers having the test in charge, say : " There was scarcely 
forty pounds pressure to the square inch on either of the crosses when they 
burst. — The Evening News, Chicago, December 10, 1SQ2. 



The following rather lengthy article from the Chicago Eve- 
ning Post of December 12th, 1892, in connection with the com- 
ments of Mr. Guilford, will be particularly interesting, inasmuch 
as some of the officials seem to take considerable pains to attract 
attention away from the real cause of the accident — the inherent 
weakness and treachery of the material of which the pipe was 
composed. 

DELUGED BY WATER. 
Main Bursts on Fifth Avenue, Flooding Numerous Buildings. — 
Damages at Least Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars. — Severae 
People Have Very Narrow Escapes From Drowning. — Poor 
Families Driven Out. — Basements Submerged and Streets 
Turned Into Rivers. — Big Loss to Business Houses. 
A bursted water main caused a flood in the downtown district today 
which destroyed many thousand dollars' worth of property and endangered 
several lives. The break occurred before the city was fairly awake, and so 
quickly did the water do its work that several people were rescued from 
their sleep just in time to escape drowning. 

The main is three feet in diameter and burst at the northwest corner of 
Fifth avenue and Charles place at 7 o'clock, and flooded the basements of 
all business houses and dwellings within a radius of three blocks. Water 
stands in some buildings as deep as nine feet, and for six hours Fifth avenue 
from Van Buren to Harrison streets was transformed into a swiftly running 
stream two feet in depth, which tore up the pavements as easily as though 
it was so much sand, and flowed into bindings on both sides of the street. 
The main burst about ten feet from I. N. W. Sherman's big carriage factory, 
and as the powerful stream of water forced itself to the surface it flowed 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 327 



like an artesian well in all directions. Many business houses have ware- 
houses and stables in the district and will suffer heavy losses. Counting in 
the damaged streets, electric wire conduits, water pipes and flooded build- 
ings, the loss will not fall below $75,000. 

The water department displayed the same lack of energy in fixing the 
break as when the Rookery was flooded recently, and it was after 10.30 
before the torrent which rushed out of the ground showed any signs of 
failing pressure. Bitter complaints were heard on all sides from citizens 
who had tried to notify the department at 7.30 and S o'clock and could get 
no help. 

What Caused the Break. 

The flooded district lies between the boundaries of Franklin and Sher- 
man streets on the west and east, and Van Bur en and Harrison on the 
north and south. The water in the streets ran as far south as Polk street, 
but was not in sufficient quantity down there to do any damage other than 
to traffic, which was hard and disagreeable. To furnish the west side with 
water an unusual supply had to pass through the Fifth avenue main, which 
proved unequal to the strain. Mr. Graham said he was notified of the break 
at 8 o'clock, and had been trying to stop the flow ever since, but as the 
water had risen above the valves it was difficult to reach them. 

Farweli, Company a Heavy Loser. 

Probably the heaviest loser will be the John V. Farwell Company, 
which has a warehouse nearly opposite to where the break occurred. 
Thousands of dollars worth of goods were stored in the basement, where 
the water has risen to the height of three feet. The contents of the big 
packing boxes nearest the floor are soaked through and through, and the 
loss on the prints and woolen goods will be very great. No time was given 
to save anything, as the flood extinguished the fires in the boilers, and the 
elevators were powerless to hoist the goods to a place of safety. 

The Dixon Transfer Company will also lose heavily, and the Godfrey 
& Clarke Company, paper dealers, count their loss at $10,000. Other big 
losers are John A. Tomax, Crew, Levick & Co., lubricating oils, I. N. W. 
Sherman & Co., and Val Schmitt. 

Eye Witnesses 

of the bursting of the main say that the water seemed to lift the street and 
make the ground quiver as with an earthquake. For several yards on both 
sides of the break the pavement over the water main was thrown up in a 
great mound several feet above the level of the street. On either side of 
this mound the water ran in the street, from a few inches to over two feet 
in depth, as the point of breakage was neared. 

Fieeed up Many Basements. 

The water filled the sewers, and then began overflowing into basements. 
The nearest building is occupied by W. G. Kreutz, the basement of which is 
his residence. The family were at breakfast, when, without any warning, 
the water began pouring in in great streams. Before they realized the 
trouble, the water began to pour in, and soon surrounded the cook -stove in 



328 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



which there was a hot fire. An explosion followed, and the family hurried 
from the basement, leaving their effects to the mercy of the water. 

Just south of this place, at 330 Fifth Avenue, is the Chicago Stock Yards 
Market Company. There was six feet of water in the basement here, and 
300 barrels of beef were soon floating around in the flood. The damage 
will be considerable. 

Charles Place, a thoroughfare extending from Fifth Avenue to Franklin 
Street, was transformed into a miniature river, down which floated side- 
walks, paving blocks, and other debris. A lot at the southeast corner of 
Franklin and Charles Place, walled in by the street embankment, was com- 
pletely submerged. On each side of the street are many dwellings of poor 
people, who received the first intimation of the danger to their homes from 
the torrent of water that poured over the curbing and into their basements. 
These unfortunates lost most of their possessions by the flood. The rise of 
water was so rapid that many of them were forced to flee for their lives, and 
leave behind them their clothing and household utensils. 

Narrow Escapes on Chari.es Peace. 

Bedridden invalids were rescued from death by drowning by the timely 
assistance of the police and their more fortunate neighbors. Many of the 
victims of the flood are left penniless and without homes to shelter them 
until the water subsides. Women with babies in their arms stood all the 
forenoon at a safe distance from the flood and wept bitterly as they saw their 
homes filled with water and their scanty belongings destroyed. 

Mrs. Mary Bray was sitting at the bedside of a sick child in her base- 
ment when the water poured down upon her. With her sick child in her 
arms and the other children following behind her she rushed up the stairs 
barely in time to escape being hemmed in by the waters. All her bedding 
and furniture was destroyed. 

Samuel Flood had left home a short time before the flood came and his 
wife and children were assisted in their escape by the employees of John A. 
Lomax. Mrs. Geo. Dorn was also one of the victims and like her neigh- 
bors, lost all her effects. Joseph Ritter has a tenant named Martin who lives 
on the first floor of a two-story house in the rear of the lot. Martin is 
sick and saw the water, luckily, when it first began to enter the house. He 
yelled for help and neighbors carried him to Ritter's house. When they 
returned the flood had risen on a level with his bed. 

C. Mulvey's iron shop was filled with water to a depth of several feet 
and the engine and boiler submerged. 

Chied and Woman Aemost Drowned. 

The Arlington Hotel, 339 Fifth Avenue, is kept by W. Riley. The 
basement being occupied by his ramily for living rooms. They had just 
arisen from bed when the water came rushing in. A great part of their 
household goods are ruined. While carrying things out, Willie, the two- 
year-old son of the proprietor, followed his father into the basement. The 
child fell into the water there' and would have been drowned had not his 
father looked around and seen him struggling in the flood. 

Mrs. Mary Everett, who is dying with consumption, awoke at 7.30 and 
found the water surrounding her bed. Her little boy was in the bed with 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 329 



her. The water was nearly to the edge of the bed and rising. She was too 
weak to call for help and had for weeks been unable to get her feet on the 
floor. A colored man named Johnson who lived in the front room, thought 
of the sick woman and knocked on her door. Hearing no sound, he believed 
the mother and child were at a neighbor's and was about to return when the 
boy's call reached his ear. Johnson broke open the door, picked the woman 
up in his arms and carried her to the floor above and placed her in care of 
Mrs. Roy. The ambulance was called and the unfortunate woman taken to 
the County Hospital. The boy will be placed at the Home of the Friendless. 

The Streets Become Rivers. 

As the flood softened the ground the torrent broke through in several 
places and increased the volume of the streams that flowed steadily both 
ways on Fifth avenue and West on Charles Place and Harrison street. The 
current was swiftest on Fifth avenue, at the corner of Charles Place where 
the break occurred and along the side-walk close under the windows of the 
I. N. W. Sherman Company's place, the stream flowed a foot deep, necessi- 
tating a long wade for any one who approached the factory. Cedar blocks, 
torn from their fastenings in the pavement went bobbing down this river 
until caught by some way-farer who wanted them to make a bridge across. 
By 9 o'clock the waters had got so deep that no teams were allowed south 
of Vanburen street on Fifth avenue. Fix-Alderman, Arthur Dixon was in a 
panic of anxiety. The water stood nine feet deep in his stables and his men 
had barely time to lead out 20 horses before they drowned. A car load of 
oats and a great quantity of feed that was stored in the building were totally 
ruined and his blacksmith's shop and wagonmaker's shops were filled with 
water. 

Liquors Much Diluted. 

The dealers along Fifth Avenue lost heavily, their supplies stored in the 
basements being totally submerged. Diquors being stored in the basements 
the owners could get no nearer to them than the stairs, from which point 
they gazed sadly at the floating barrels, kegs and wine cases. They place 
their damage at $15,000. 

The flood attracted a great crowd and every train which drew into the 
Grand Central Depot swelled the multitude. There was lots of sport for the 
curious assemblage. The ridge in the middle of the street thrown up by 
the surging stream was as slippery as ice, as the water had frozen in the 
early hours. Fvery driver of a wagon who attempted to navigate the street 
directed his horse to this ridge, as it was the only portion of the thorough- 
fare visable. In many cases the horses were unable to hold their footing 
and fell h eavily. The water was so deep that the crowd standing on the 
sidewalks did not care to go to the rescue of the poor beasts and they 
floundered around until it often seemed they would be seriously injured. 

One of the Twelfth street cars was passing along Fifth avenue when the 
pavement behind it suddenly heaved up, raising the back end of the car 
with it. The passengers were thrown into a panic and got out of the car 
with the greatest haste, thinking they had got off the crater of a volcano or 
that a boiler had exploded beneath them. That was the last car that passed 
over the tracks. 



330 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Damage to Business Houses. 

I. N. W. Sherman whose wagon manufacturing establishment is at the 
corner of Fifth avenue and Charles Place, was one of the heaviest losers by 
the flood. His entire basement 107 by 122 feet, was filled with water. He 
claims that $10,000 will not cover his loss. Three engines and two dynamos 
were completely destroyed and lumber and other property was damaged by 
the water. 

Besides this loss, he fears that the foundation of his building has been 
impaired. Webster & Wiley has placed his insurance, but he does not 
know whether or not he is protected by loss in such a case as this. The 
rising waters soon put out the fires in the engines which supplied power for 
the plant, and all employees were forced to suspend work. These men will 
be out of employment until the engines can be replaced with new ones. 

The basement of John A. Lomax's soda water establishment at 14, 16 
and 18 Charles Place, which extends back to Jackson Street, was completely 
submerged. Plere more than $6,000 worth of bottles were stored. If the 
water should freeze, this stock will be destroyed. Within two hours after 
the bursting of the main, the water in this basement had risen to the height 
of four feet. 

Beneath the main floor of the building at northeast corner of Franklin 
Street and Charles Place, the Crew, Levick Company had 200 barrels of lub- 
ricating oils stored, and the w T ater poured in upon them until they were 
submerged. It is feared that the barrels will burst and the entire stock 
destroyed. Fears are entertained that the foundations of the building, a 
five story brick, have been injured. The oil contained in the barrels is 
worth $2,000. 

The Godfrey & Clark Paper Company, at 312 and 314 Fifth Avenue, 
was a heavy loser by the water. In the basement $8,000 worth of fine 
rope paper is stored, and the water destroyed it all. The employes of the 
company sought to save a portion of the property, but the rise of the water 
was too rapid, and they received only a thorough wetting for their efforts. 

Felix Labriolos' stock of paper was soaked with water at 26 and 28 
Charles Place. 

J. V. Farwell & Co. 's and F. E. Coyne's stables at 312 Fifth Avenue and 
319 Franklin Streets were damaged somewhat. 

Danger of Faleing Wales. 

Michael Simon, at 358 F'ifth Avenue, estimated his loss on furniture, 
etc., at $1,500, and was most disturbed by the fear that the wall on the north 
side of the building would fall. Such was the case with many of the brick 
walls in the vicinity. The fire-wall between Val Schmitts and John Keller's 
building, at Harrison Street, bulged to a startling degree at 9 o'clock and 
caused much alarm. " I was sitting at breakfast when the break occurred," 
said Schmitt, " and first knew of it when I felt that my feet were wet. I 
looked on the floor and saw the water creeping higher and higher, and we 
got out in a hurry and left the dishes on the table. I locked the door so 
that the furniture would not float away. ' ' 

All that J. W. Padrick got from his basement at 312 Fifth Avenue was 
his white bull dog. Pie heard the dog howl early this morning and went 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 331 



below to find him standing in six inches of water. Padrick's loss will reach 
$500. 

The United States Express Company has its stables at Fifth Avenue 
and Harrison Streets. When the water backed up it flowed into the base- 
ment, and several teams had to be stabled up-stairs. 

Dixon Claims Riparian Rights. 
" At last we have the lake front right at our doors," said ex-Alderman 
Arthur Dixon, as he viewed the flood of waters in front of his numerous 
buildings on Fifth avenue. "Our claim to all the riparian rights cannot 
be denied. If the water remains here until after the World's Fair closes, I 
will have a fleet of gondolas sailing upon the water for a convenience and 
enjoyment of our visitors. I was standing in front of my barns when the 
water main burst. A Twelfth street car filled with passengers was passing ; 
the ground began to swell as if an earthquake was about to take place ; the 
driver of the car and the passengers were greatly frightened. Alongside 
of the car tracks for a distance of several hundred feet the pavement was 
raised and split open by the force of the water underneath. The driver of 
the car lashed his horses into a gallop, and the passengers escaped 
uninjured. No one could imagine the cause of the sudden upheaval of the 
pavement until the water burst forth from the ground." 

Samuel G. ARTINGSTATX, 
ex-City Engineer and ex-Engineer for the Drainage Board, viewed the 
havoc made by the water. Said he : "I can see no reason for the bursting 
of the main. This main is thirty-six inches in diameter, and connects the 
North Side water works with the Twenty-second street pumping station. 
It was laid in 1868." 

Query : How could the main have been laid in 1868, when 
the letters and figures cast in raised Roman letters and figures 
on the pipe itself, viz. : 

"D. L. & CO. 

73- 
1879." 
two inches long, appear on the pipe on the side opposite the 
break, and one foot eight and one-half inches from the spigot 
end of the pipe to the bottom of the figures 1879, which shows 
that the pipe could not have been laid in the year 1868, as 
claimed by Mr. Artingstall. Further, the Chicago specifications 
for cast-iron water pipe provide as follows: 

Each pipe shall have cast on exterior surface of socket ' C. C. W. W.' 
in raised Roman letters, one and one-half (ij^) inches long, and shall be 
further marked in like manner with letters and figures to designate the 
maker of the pipe and the year. 

The raised Roman letters and figures cast on this piece of pipe 
indicate that it was made by "D"ennis "L"ong "&" "Company. 



332 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The figures " 73 " indicates the number of the size of pipe cast 
on that contract or order, and the figures "1879" indicates the 
year in which it was cast. Thus, this pipe was cast by Dennis 
Long & Company; it was the 73d 36-inch pipe cast on that 
contract, and it was cast in the year 1879. Granting that it 
was laid in the ground the same year it was cast (1879), and 
that it burst on the 12th day of December, 1892, it could not 
have been in the ground more than 13 years, the length of time 
which it was in the ground before being in service for carrying 
water, not being taken into account in considering the length of 
time that the pipe was in actual service. — A. J. G. 

Contractor George W. Jackson, who stood by, said it would cost $8,000 
to pave the streets damaged by water. 

Big Buildings Short of Water. 

Between 9 and 11 o'clock the people in and about the tall buildings 
about the Board of Trade district felt the results of the flood. The Grand 
Pacific Hotel, in the center of the district also felt the wave. The water was 
partially turned off, but after the hour of noon the flow increased a little and 
relieved the temporary embarrassment. 

Said "Sam. Parker," of the Grand Pacific Hotel, "We were not hosing 
the streets or flushing the city sewers with our water supply for any purely 
philanthropic purpose. We had water enough to supply our guests with all 
they required, and to make a cup of coffee or two for luncheon. We did 
not have a lavish supply. We are husbanding the supply at whatever points 
we can. I presume the damage will be repaired before night, and then we 
will be able to resume the full flow. Our tanks were well filled and that 
helped us out." 

At the Edison Electric plant, on Adams street, where the boiler capac- 
ity is enormous, the lack of water was severely felt. All the buildings that 
subscribe for electric light in this concern were affected, and for over two 
hours the bulb lights glowed red and dark rather than white and bright. 

Under Control at i o'clock. 
The Harrison street pumps were still shut down and Mr. Clarke said 
they would remain so until night. "We have not yet discovered what 
caused the break," said Mr. Clarke, "but it will probably require several 
hours to repair it." The Harrison street pumps being stopped, a large dis- 
district on the West Side will be short of water. The pumps at Fourteenth 
street were running this afternoon, the third pump was started this morn- 
ing, only two having been run yesterday. City Engineer Clarke said, " The 
starting of the third pump could not have caused the break, as the accident 
occurred before the pump was started." 

West Side Afeected. 
The district affected by the break is a large one. Being all of the South 
Side west of La Salle street and north of Taylor street, and almost the whole 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 333 



of the West Side. To shut off the water and stop the flood from the broken 
main it was necessary to close twenty-five valves scattered thoughout the 
district described above. 

In the mean time the West Side pumping works closed down, and man- 
ufacturing plants had to cease operations for lack of water for steam. The 
Canal street district suffered severely. Warren Springer's plant was the 
first to feel the effects. It was impossible to fill the battery of twenty boilers 
and the fires were extingushed. West of Canal street the residence district 
had but little water during the day and wash-day operations was suspended. 

From the thirty-six inch main at Canal Street, eight-inch pipes extend 
westward along the main streets, feeding a large district. The early stop- 
page of the West-side pumps left families in this section without water 
enough to make coffee for breakfast. 

Doesn't Know what Caused it. 

We don't know what caused the break, and will not be able to deter- 
mine until we have examined the main (said City Engineer Clarke). He 
denied that increased pressure from the new tunnel could have caused the 
accident. " It is absurd," said he, " to think that the addition of 24,000,000 
gallons per day to the general water supply could increase the pressure 
sufficiently to break a main. The increased pressure on that Congress Street 
main could not have been more than one pound to the square inch. It does 
not connect with the Fourteenth Street station and the new tunnel directly. 
Nobody knows yet what caused the break, but the theory of increased pres- 
sure is absurd." 

Superintendent Moody said the broken main is twenty-five years old, 
and has probably been weakened by long service. 

Granting that the main was really twenty-five years old, as 
stated by Mr. Moody, the water works distribution system of 
the City of Chicago must really be in a deplorable condition, 
that is, when its cast-iron water mains an inch and a quarter in 
thickness burst under a pressure not exceeding thirty-five 
pounds per square inch. 

Mr. Moody was certainly laboring under a misapprehension, 
for the irascible evidence of the age of the pipe, "in raised 
Roman letters cast upon the pipe when it was made," show that 
it was made in 1879, which would make the age of the pipe 
thirteen years instead of twenty-five, as Mr. Moody stated. 



WATER TURNED ON AGAIN. 
The Fifth Avenue Break Repaired and Harrison Street Pumps 

Started. 
A report was made to City Engineer Clarke that the broken section of 
pipe at Fifth Avenue and Charles Place had been repaired. A force of men 
were sent out to open the valves and that work occupied the forenoon. * * 



334 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



No traces of a flaw are visible at the fracture and the only plausible 
explanation is that the iron crystalized by long use and gave way under the 
strain. 

Street Supt. Burke sent a gang of pavers to work on the pavements 
washed out by the floods. 

The question as to who shall pay the damage done to business houses 
remains to be settled. 

Although the Edison Company ran a conduit through the street, its men 
worked on the opposite side of the street, and it cannot be held liable. — The 
Chicago Evening Post, Tuesday, December 13, 1892. 



WATER IN THE BROKEN MAIN. 
Unaccountable Cause of the Accident. Where Chance Put the 

Weak Spot. 

Water was turned into the broken main yesterday morning and the 
people south of Adams Street had a supply after being without for twenty- 
four hours. 

The cause of the break has not been determined and probably will never 
be explained. 

In the city engineer's office it is spoken of as one of those unaccountable 
accidents. 

The main runs the pumping works at twenty-second street and Ashland 
Avenue to the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, and it is connected with 
smaller mains at nearly all the street connections. It passes under the 
centre of the business district down past the City Hall and under the Chicago 
River through the I,a Salle Street Tunnel. Chance put the weak spot at 
Congress Street and Fifth Avenue, instead of the tunnel or in some place 
where the damage might have been ten times what it is 

Fifth Avenue is still impassable for teams or street cars. 

The broken joint of pipe has been replaced by a new one, but the hole 
has not been filled, neither have the pavements been replaced where they 
were washed out by the rush of waters. It will take several days to get the 
street in shape. 

In the city engineer's office the statement was made that the pressure 
on the main at the time of its breaking was only thirty pounds. 

The automatic register in the fire alarm office, which is connected with 
this thirty-six-inch main, showed a pressure of only thirty pounds from 
5 o'clock Monday morning until the time of the break at 7 o'clock, when it 
fell immediately to seven and one-half pounds. — The Tribune, Chicago, 
December 14, 1892. 



Mr. Artingstall is Ex-City Engineer. 
Mr. Moody is Supt. of Water Pipe Extensions. 
Mr. Graham is Foreman of Water Pipe Extensions; and 
Mr. Clarke was City Engineer at the time the break occur- 
red, but has since resigned. 

Our Mr. Guilford heard of the break at 7.30 A. M. , and at 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 335 

8 o'clock was on the ground and remained in the vicinity of the 
break until 4.15 P. M. Finding that he was unknown to the 
city employes who were on the ground, he made many inquiries 
of the workmen during the day, as to the cause of the break ; 
amount of supposed pressure on the pipe at the time of its burst- 
ing ; maker of the pipe, etc., etc. 

Many reasons were given by Mr. Graham and also by the 
foreman of the " street gang." Mr. Graham, stating that " the 
break was caused by the increased pressure from the new four- 
mile tunnel. The street foreman also gave the same reason, and 
this excuse appeared to be " a good enough morgan," as many 
believed that the city would now be able to supply water in third 
and fourth stories on account of this " increased pressure from 
the new four mile-tunnel." (The center of the " new four-mile 
tunnel " is about ninety feet below this burst thirty-six-inch 
pipe.) 

Graham said that " he did not think there was a break, but 
that a joint had blown out." 

The foreman said "there must have been 300 or 400 pounds 
pressure on the pipe," "but," said he, "just think, that new 
tunnel is eight feet in diameter and this is a three-foot pipe. 
The new tunnel puts 400 pounds pressure on this pipe." 

Later in the day they gave another excuse, viz.: "That 
all the water works pumps on the north and west sides and the 
new pumps on the south side were pumping into this pipe, and 
no wonder it broke." Also, " The pipe was one of the best ever 
made; was made by one of the best pipe makers in the world; 
was made in Pittsburgh 25 years ago, and has stood the pressure 
ever since it was made." 

He persisted in asking questions, many of which no 
doubt seemed to be trifling to them, and, when the water was 
going down and about an inch of the bell of the pipe was out of 
water, the foreman asked, "Who in h — 1 are you that's asking 
so many d — m fool questions, anyway?" "I know enough to 
know that that burst pipe was not made in Pittsburgh, but that 
it was made at Louisville, Kentucky," Mr. Guilford replied. 
Then there was a great laugh at his expense, because, as they 
said, " He knows too d — m much, he knows who made the pipe 
and he hasn't seen the pipe yet." Mr. Guilford told them that 
when they took the pipe out of the ditch they would find the in- 
itials of the maker cast on it in large letters, and they would find 
the initials to be " D. L. & Co.," and would also find cast upon 



336 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the pipe the year that it was made. He then took a stick and 
marked in the mud the shape of the bell of the pipe as they 
would find it to be when the water had subsided sufficiently. 
When he told them that there could not have been to exceed 
forty pounds pressure on the main when it burst, a howl went 
up from the workmen and from others also. The foreman said, 
" Oh, get out, you don't know what you're talking about. I've 
worked around this pipe for more'n twenty years, and I know 
there was 300 or 400 pounds pressure on it — the new tunnel 
pressure broke the pipe. 

Whom Shall we Believe ? 
Mr. Artingstall ; Mr. Graham ; Mr. Moody; The Street 
Foreman; City Engineer Clarke; or The Automatic Register in 
the Fire Alarm Office? Let's see what each says regarding the 
Burst Cast-iron 36-inch pipe. 
Mr. Artingstall says: 

I can see no reason for the bursting of the main. This main is 36 inches 
in diameter and connects the North Side Water- Works with the Twenty- 
second street Pumping Station. It was laid in 1868. This morning's acci- 
dent may have happened without any one being responsible therefor. 

(How could this pipe have been laid " in 1S68 " when the 
figures cast on the pipe when it was made show that the pipe 
was made in the year 1879?) 

Mr. Moody says that the broken main is 25 years old and 
has been weakened by long service, and again, in his opinion a 
joint of the pipe had blown out, or the joint may have been 
blown out. (How could this pipe be 25 years old and be wea- 
kened by long service when it was made in 1879?) 
Mr. Graham says: 

The break was caused by the increased pressure from the new four-mile 
tunnel I do not think there is a break but that a joint has blown out. 

The Street Foreman says: 

There must have been 300 or 400 lbs. pressure on this pipe, for the rea- 
son that the new four-mile tunnel is eight feet in diameter while this pipe is 
but three feet in diameter, and [while the new tunnel is at least ninety feet 
lower than the burst pipe. — A. J. G.] the tunnel exerts a pressure of from 
300 to 400 lbs. on this pipe ; also, that this bursted pipe was made at 
Pittsburgh 25 years ago. 

City Engineer Clarke said: 

It is all nonsense to ascribe the accident to the increased pressure from 
the Fourteenth street station. The water from that station is being sent 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 337 



southward through the mains running down Calumet avenue and southwest 
to the stock yards. The Fourteenth street works are connected with the 
Harrison street works by a laud tunnel and that tunnel is not being used. 
The gates connecting it with the four-mile tunuel have not been opened and, 
if they were, I am sure our mains would withstand the pressure. It is 
absurd, the increased pressure on that main could not have been more than 
one pound to the square inch. It does not connect with the Fourteenth 
street station and the new tunnel. The main from the Fourteenth street 
stations goes south and directly west Nobody knows what caused the 
break, but the theory of increased pressure is absurd. So far only two of 
the purnps at the Fourteenth street station had been called into requisition; 
A third was scheduled to begin work yesterday morning, and so confident 
was I that the accident was not caused by increased pressure from this source 
that I allowed the third pump to be started after I had received notice of the 
accident. No traces of a flaw are visible at the fracture, and the only plaus- 
ible explanation is that the iron crystalized by long use and finally gave 
way under the strain. 

What are the facts about this pipe ? 

Simply, that when this burst cast-iron pipe was taken out 
of the trench the following letters and figures were found (cast) 
on the pipe: " D. L. & Co. 

73 
1S79." The bottom of the figures 1879 being 

one foot, eight and one-half inches from the spigot end of the 
pipe, the letters and figures being cast around (not lengthwise) 
of the pipe, and were on the side of the pipe opposite the break. 
The extreme end of the break was two feet, four and one-half 
inches from the spigot end of the pipe. (See photographs.) 

As the figures cast on the pipe show that the pipe was made 
in "1879," it could not have been "laid in 1868" (as stated by 
ex-City Engineer Artingstall), neither could it have "been in 
use 25 years" (as stated by Mr. Moody, Superintendent of Water 
Pipe Extensions). 

As the pipe burst December 12th, 1892, it could not have 
been in use to exceed 13 years at the utmost, and if it is true 
that in 13 years "cast-iron pipe becomes crystalized sufficiently 
to burst or give way under 30 pounds pressure," what fire pro- 
tection has the City of Chicago that can be relied upon ? 

Again, "In the City Engineer's office it is spoken of as one 
of those unaccountable accidents." 

Again, "In the City Engineer's office the statement was 
made that the pressure on the main at the time of the break was 
only 30 pounds, while the pipe had been tested to withstand 
300 pounds. " 



338 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



What does " The Automatic Register " say ? 

" The Automatic Register in the fire-alarm office, which is 
connected with the 36-inch main, showed a pressure of only 30 
pounds from 5 o'clock Monday morning until the time of the 
break at 7 o'clock, when it fell immediately to 7^ pounds." 

The Automatic Register did not guess at its notations, but 
recorded the actual "facts about this pipe" just as they took 
place at the time. 

Perhaps some manufacturer of cast-iron pipe could be in- 
duced to make a statement as to what the future effect would be 
on a 36-inch cast-iron water pipe, if, immediately after casting, 
and after the pipe had been " stripped " and was left standing in 
the pit, the workmen should, in order to hurry their work along, 
" turn the hose on the pipe." Would or would not the water so 
turned on the pipe strike the pipe at just about where this pipe 
broke — near the spigot end ? And if the water was left to run 
on the pipe any length of time, would not the water follow down 
the pipe in just about the lines where this pipe burst ? 

We here reproduce two photographs of the broken pipe: 

View No. 1, looking south, shows the burst 36-inch pipe 
and one piece where the workmen left it on the sidewalk after 
taking it from the trench. The other piece is on the east side 
of Fifth avenue, and is not shown in the photograph. 

View No. 2, looking north, shows the burst 36-inch cast- 
iron and one piece laying on the sidewalk, the pipe being 
turned over so as to show the break; the position of the pipe 
being about the way it was laying in the trench when it burst. 



FLOODED D. W. IRWIN'S BUILDING. 
A Four-Inch Main Bursts and Fr,ows for Several Hours. — 
FiNAiyEY Shut Off. 
D. W. Irwin stayed up to midnight and watched for his property to float 
down Wabash avenue. Mr. Irwin owns the big building at Wabash avenue 
and Harrison street. Last evening a four-inch water niain burst and flooded 
the building. The water had been flowing but a short time when dis- 
covered by an officer, but the two watchmen Mr. Irwin employs could not 
be found. 

As a last resource the owner of the structure was notified to come 
down town if he didn't want to occasion another scandal in the water 
office. He did not arrive until the doors of the building had been broken 
in and the police and fire department were at work trying to stop the 
water. The water had filled the basement to a depth of two feet when the 
owner of the property arrived. When the firemen, who had been wading 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 389 

about in the icy water, told him the break was beyond the meter, Mr. 
Irwin heaved a sigh of relief. The supply to the main pipes had to be shut 
off while the leak was repaired. There was no merchandise in the base- 
ment of the flooded building. — Chicago News Record, Friday, December 
23d, 1892. 

BASEMENT FLOODED BY A BROKEN MAIN. 
Water Pours into the Hartford Building Undermining 

Adjacent Waees. 
The water main leading to the air chamber on Dearborn street, opposite 
the new Hartford Building, burst last night and flooded the basement of 
that structure with water. Oscar Halberg, night watchman of that building, 
discovered the break at ten o'clock, when he found a torrent of water pour- 
ing from under the sidewalk into the basement. He sent to the City Hall 
for a man to turn off the water. One of the employes came promptly, but 
he could not find the valve, the tube having been clogged up with mud and 
stones. He then returned to the City Hall and started a patrol wagon after 
Inspector Graham, in charge of the first district, who lives out near Douglas 
Park. Meanwhile the flood in the Hartford Building was steadily rising. 
* * * The abutting walls are undermined and are yet, in places, sup- 
ported by jack-screws. * * * It was 12:30 o'clock when Inspector Gra- 
ham arrived with a wagon and a number of workmen. Finding that he could 
not reach the valve he at once set about shutting off the water in the main. 
Valves had to be closed in a half a dozen localities for blocks around.— The 
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, December 30, 1892. 



Water. 

Chicago finds herself rather abruptly confronted by a new element of 
danger, namely, the water mains. Three times very recently a main has 
suddenly gone wrong, turning greater or less portion of the surrounding ter- 
ritory into a large sink and entailing considerable damage. 

It seems probable either that a good many of the pipes are getting old 
or that the incessant stirring, tinkering and re-arranging has injuriously af- 
fected them. 

In view of these circumstances, it would seem a wise thing for the 
Water Department to wind up its flaccid nerves to that degree of tension 
where it will be able not only to take prompt notice of a burst main, but to 
shut off the water before it sets the whole neighborhood swimming — that is, 
within two or three hours, say. — Editorial, Chicago Evening News, Friday, 
December 30,1892. 

Damaged by a Broken Main. 
About 11 o'clock last night a water main in the cellar of Mainrath Bros., 
commission merchants at 43 River street, burst, flooding the cellar and the 
adjoining one under the office building The San Diego. The water ran 
into the engine room of the office building, and the engineer telephoned to 
the water department, but receiving no reply, he called up Foreman Gra- 
ham at his residence. The foreman hurried down town in a buggy, and 



340 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



found it necessary to turn off the water in the whole block. On entering 
the building over three feet of water was found in the basement. 

The water was let off through the sewer, but not until fruit had been 
injured to the amount of $300 to $500. — The Chicago Mail, Monday. Jan- 
nary 23, 1893. 

A BIG MAIN 
IN THE FOURTEENTH STREET STATION BURSTS. 

The main leading from one of the two big pumping engines snapped in 
two without a moment's warning, and before the engine could be stopped 
the building was flooded. The break did not cause a flood in the street as 
the luain broke where it passes under the wall of the station. The main is 
a new one and is five feet below the surface of the street. * * * 

The accident occurred yesterday morning and the engine with which 
the main is connected has been shut down ever since. 

" The break occurred in the worst possible place, right under the wall of 
the building," said City Engineer Geraldine, "but a force of men was at 
once put to work removing the broken section." * * * 

" We have been speeding the other engine to make up as far as 
possible for the loss of the one which we were compelled to shut down." — 
The Chicago Evening Post, Monday, February 6, 1893. 



Damage by Bursting oe a Cast-iron Water Main. 
For the bursting of a water main in their wholesale store on Fifth Av- 
enue. * * * John V. Farwell & Co., seek to recover $25,000 damages 
from the City of Chicago. A suit for that amount was begun in the Super- 
ior Court yesterday. The plaintiffs claim that their basement floor was 
badly flooded and they declare that the city is responsible for the damage 
done to their goods. — Chicago Tribune of Friday, July 21st, 1893. 



INJURED BY FALL. OF AN ELEVATOR. 

ACCIDENT IN MARSHALL FIELD & CO.'S NEW BUILDING CAUSES CONFUSION. 

Elevator No. 3 of the battery in the northwestern part of Marshall 
Field & Co.'s new store on Wabash Avenue fell four stories a few minutes 
after one o'clock yesterday afternoon. There were eleven passengers in the 
car. Those persons whose injuries were of any consequence were : 

THE INJURED. 

Price, Mrs. V. C, Waukegan, limbs bruised. 

Strong, Mrs. J. W., Evanston, great toe on right foot broken. 

Unknown man, left leg broken. 

Unknown woman, injured internally. 

The elevator had been run to the fourth floor, which is as high as it 
goes. A party of women, who had been taking luncheon in the tea room, 
were waiting to go down. They got aboard and the elevator started down. 
As the cage reached the landing on the third floor George Smith, the eleva- 
tor man pulled the rope to stop, as several persons were waiting to go 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 341 



down. For an instant the cage slowed up and then shot downward. Some of 
the women shrieked, but the time was too short to allow of more than one 
cry before the cage struck the bottom of the building. A stream of water 
poured over the passengers when the cage struck the ground. The eleva- 
tor man quickly opened the cage door and the passengers scrambled out 
with more haste than dignity. The experience, however, was too much for 
the nerve of one woman, who was found in a faint in the cage. 

Dr. Homer Thomas, who has an office in the building, was hastily 
summoned. Carriages were then secured, and the injured sent home. The 
store was filled with customers at the time, and the accident caused con- 
siderable excitement. 

The elevator that fell was built by the Crane Elevator Company, and 
worked by hydraulic power. It was put in about four months ago, and is 
similar to the four others that compose the battery. The accident was 
caused by the pipe through which the pressure is supplied giving way near 
the first floor. There was evidently some flaw in the iron, which rendered 
it weak and unable to withstand the pressure. The pipe was ten inches on 
the outside, and had an inside diameter of four inches. This pipe broke 
squarely around. The fact that the water could escape but slowly, and 
that the elevator was furnished with an air-cushion, prevented the accident 
proving more serious. — The Chicago Sunday Tribune, December ij, S893. 



MANHOLES BLOWN UP. 
Explosions Startle the; Passengers at Clark and Washington 

Streets. 
Two loud explosions and two deadly manhole covers sailing skyward 
amid a shower of mud, startled pedestrians and street car passengers at the 
corner of Clark and Washington Streets this morning. — Daily News, 
Chicago, December 15th, 1S93. 



Water Main Bursts.— Pumping Station at Sixty-Eighth Street 
Made Useless. — Land in the Vicinity of the Break in the 
Big Pipe is Flooded.— Supply of the Entire District South 
of Thirty-Ninth Street is Cut Off.— Great Fears for Possi- 
bility of Fire. — Chemical Engines Sent in Numbers into the 
Hyde Park District. 

The big thirty-six inch main through which the Sixty-eighth Street 
pumping station sends the water which supplies all Chicago south of Thirty- 
ninth Street, broke at eight o'clock last night, and for several hours that 
part of the city was without water. The break occurred within three blocks 
of the Lake shore, and in twenty-five minutes the surrounding country was 
like an Arkansas swamp — without trees. * * A perfect geyser, anywhere 
from ten to thirty feet high, was in active operation, and the surrounding 
ground was soon nothing but a recollection. In fifteen minutes, before the 
engines could be stopped, a hole fifty feet square and six feet deep had been 
made by the escaping water. * * General Superintendent Hawkins was 
notified, and he and Superintendent Reynolds called in all the men who 
lived in the neighborhood. They were dispatched over the towns of Hyde 



342 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Park and Lake to shut off the water gates. * * The part of the city most 
affected was the old Hyde Park territory, lying south of Thirty-ninth Street 
and east of State. The northern section of this territory was supplied for a 
time from the Fourteenth Street mains, but this provision could not be 
made for South Chicago, Pullman, Kensington, and Grand Crossing. The 
town of Lake was slightly affected. " x " * At the Sixty-eight Street station 
the usual pressure is from forty-eight to fifty pounds. Last night, after the 
break, it was reduced to ten pounds, water being forced through an old 
main. * * The City Engineering Department took immediate precautions 
to guard against fire, by connecting the town of Lake mains with those of 
the Fourteenth Street station. But for this that portion of the city south of 
Thirty-ninth Street, including South Chicago, Pullman, and Kensington, 
would have been entirely without water, and the only hope of the depart- 
ment in case of fire would have been the chemicals. * * As far as the 
supply of water is concerned, which was furnished by the Fourteenth Street 
pumping station, fire engines and hose would have been worthless in Grand 
Crossing, South Chicago, Pullman, and Kensington last night. In Hyde 
Park, at ten o'clock, there was a five pound pressure. 

Working on the Repairs. 

Superintendent Reynolds thought the pipe was broken. "It looks to 
me as if it was a similar one to the one that occurred sometime ago on 
Harrison Street," he said. " Of course, we can't tell definitely how long it 
will take until to-morrow." 

" How long will be required to make the necessary repairs?" 

"That will depend on circumstances. We may be able to have the 
break repaired by to-morrow noon; and then, again, it may take until 
evening." 

Men worked all night on the main. They will be relieved early this 
morning. — The Tribune, Chicago, December 22, 1893. 



CLEVELAND, OHIO. 



36-lNCH Cast-Iron Pipe Pueeed Apart under Light Pressure at 
Ceeveeand, Ohio. 

Supt. Kingsley, of Cleveland, O., has found that the break in the 
36-inch water pipe on Division street Friday night was caused by the 
pressure of the water forcing one joint of pipe away from the one to which 
it was joined. This made an opening the full circumference of the big pipe 
into which a man's finger could be inserted. — Fire and Water, January 
20th, /S94. 

NOTE. — While such accidents — if they may be called accidents — are 
by no means a rare occurrence with cast-iron water pipe joints, it w T ould be 
utterly impossible for a Converse Lock Joint to be torn asunder by any 
pressure that could be put upon a water works distribution system by any 
pumping machinery in operation in any water works plant in the country. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 



343 



HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. 

Burst Cast-Iron Pipes. — Terrible Accident in an 

Engine Room. 

By the courtesy of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance 

Company, Hartford, Conn., we reproduce an article from their organ 

Locomotive, for April, 1892, which will prove interesting to our readers, 

and illustrate the dangers attending the use of cast iron pipes : 

"A short time ago a serious accident occurred in the engine room of a 
New England mill, which was instructive enough to merit wider publicity 
than it has yet had. The engine is a 1,200 horse-power Corliss, and is 







An Accident in an Engine-Room. 



supplied with steam by a 14-inch cast-iron main which enters the room 
about nine feet above the floor, passing horizontally along the wall for 
about eight feet, and then turning downward and connecting with a pipe 
under the floor that supplies the engine from beneath. The pipe is fed by 
smaller ones running into it from each of the ten boilers in the boiler room, 
and it is provided with a main stop-valve which is just outside and above 
the engine room door, shown in the cut. 

"The engineer was just starting the engine up in the morning, when, 
without warning, the eight-foot section of cast-iron pipe running along the 
wall (indicated by the dotted lines) burst with a noise like a cannon, and 
steam at a hundred pounds pressure rushed into the engine room with 
frightful velocity. The engineer was at the throttle-valve between the two 
cylinders (to the right of the one shown in the cut), and the powerful 



344 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



current of steam that rushed against him bore him helplessly across the 
engine room to a door that our artist has not shown. He struck the casing 
of the door, and succeeded in gaining sufficient footing to jump out, 
instead of being blown out. The ground is more than twenty feet below 
the door-sill, and the engineer says it seemed fully a minute before he 
landed. His right knee was badly sprained by the fall, but he hobbled 
around to the boiler-room, and, with the assistance of two firemen, tried to 
close the main stop-valve. This was a difficult thing to do in the blinding 
blast of steam that issued from the engine room, and the effort proved 
fruitless. The valve failed to work, and the smaller stop-valves on the 
individual boilers had to be closed before the draught of steam could be 
checked. 

When the engine-room could be entered it was found that the large cast- 
iron pipe had burst. The bursted pipe was found to be split in halves, 
leugthwise, and fragments of the bursted pipe lay about the floor. An 
examination revealed the cause of the accident. On either side of this 
bursted pipe the casting was defective, and for perhaps four feet on both 
sides of the bursted pipe the metal was hollowed and full of blow-holes so 
that there was no union whatever, the casting being held together by a scale 
of iron hardly a sixteenth of an inch thick in places, and hardly an eighth of 
an inch thick in most of its length. The pipe that run down through the 
floor was blown over about six feet so that the joints and valves under the 
floor were badly twisted and bent. Fragments of the bursted pipes struck 
and ruined the valve oiler on the cylinder, and a Locke damper regulator on 
the wall ; the weights belonging to it being strewn all over the engine-room 
floor, and one weight belonging to it, weighing about ten pounds, was driven 
across the engine-room and embedded in the wall, making a hole a foot in 
diameter. 

The engineer was carried to his home after the accident, and it was found 
that his injuries, although serious and painful, were not fatal. 

The moral of this accident is, that cast-iron pipe ought not to be used for 
mains carrying heavy pressures. Certainly cast-iron pipes ought not to be 
used unless sure and certain that they have been tested hydrostatically and 
with the hammer ; and our opinion is that wrought-iron pipes are always 
much safer and better. 

The failure of this cast-iron pipe was due to its inherent weakness, but 
accidents of a similar nature often occur. Cast-iron pipes should receive 
the most careful attention, especially if the pipe is a long one, as they are 
exposed to great variations in temperature, and the consequent expansion 
and contraction is very great and needs to be properly provided for. — 
Industrial World, May 12, 1S92. 



KANSAS CITY, MlSSOimi. 

NOTE OF ALARM SOUNDED. 

Chief Hale Says the Purchase of Fire Steamers is Imperative. 

— The Only Way in His Opinion to Head Off a Widespread 

Conflagration.— He Scores the Present Water Pressure. 

Chief Hale, of the fire department, yesterday delivered a straight-frorn- 

the-shoulder blow at the Water Works Company, when he filed with the 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 345 

Board of Public Works a communication in which he complains vigorously 
of the water pressure afforded by the company, which he declared not only 
to be dangerous, but placed the city at the mercy of the flames whenever 
a fire broke out. He cited four instances wherein the water mains had 
burst at a critical time, and declared that if the city did not take precau- 
tionary methods a disastrous and destructive conflagration would visit the 
city, entailing incalculable loss upon the owners of property. The com- 
munication is, in full, as follows : 

Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 30, 1S92. 
To the Honorable Board of Public Works : 

I wish to call your attention to the extremely dangerous condition of 
the water works system of this city, and, in my judgment, if your honorable 
body and the City Council fail to take some immediate steps towards fur- 
nishing a better and safer water supply for fire protection, this city will be 
wiped out by a general conflagration. I have repeatedly called the atten- 
tion of the Mayor and Council to the existing dangers of a water main 
bursting during the progress of a fire, and during the past two or three years 
there have been four cases of bursted water mains and in either case the 
business portion of the city was left entirely unprotected against fire for 
three or four hours, and had a fire started in any of our bad risks the fire 
department would have been powerless to render any service in subduing it 
for the lack of water. 

The following list will show the breaks which have occurred on one line 
of 30-inch main pipe running east on Seventeenth Street. 

On February 17th, 1S89, a fire occurred in Landis' livery stable at the 
southwest corner of Tenth and Troost Streets, at 10.45 P- M. This fire was 
practically under control, when the pipe burst, leaving the department with 
no water for protection ; the building and contents were entirely consumed, 
with a loss of 145,250. 

On November 19th, 1891, a fire alarm was turned in to the department 
at 3.15 A. M. for a fire at Nos. 504 and 506 East Fifteenth. The depart- 
ment responded to this fire, laid a line of hose from fire hydrant at the 
corner of Fifteenth and Locust, and when the pipe was called for the hy- 
drant was opened and found perfectly dry, with no water in the pipes. * * 
The mains were without any water in them in the business portion of the 
city for about three hours, and had it not been for the public fire cistern at 
the corner of Fifteenth and Grant, which contains the only supply of water 
anywhere in that neighborhood from which an engine could work, there 
would have been hundreds of buildings swept away by the fire, which was 
well under way. 

On November 8th, 1892, at 3 P. M., a break occurred in the 30-inch 
water main at Seventeenth and Harrison, which left the whole business 
portion of the city without water for a period of three hours. 

On December 23d, 1S92, an alarm was received by the Department at 
10.50 P. M., for the Atlas Carriage Works at Nos. 308 and 310 Broadway. 
The companies responding were Nos. 6, 2, 4, 3, 11 and 5, all of which laid 
out different lines of hose from different hydrants in that vicinity, and after 
working on the fire about twenty minutes the 30-inch main burst near 
Seventeenth and Walnut, and deprived us of any water pressure whatever. 
I then ordered the hydrants closed in order to save what water was stored 



846 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



in the pipes, and set two steamers to work from the hydrants on Broadway, 
near the fire. On starting the two steamers to work, I found that the No. 3 
steamer, located at Fourth and Broadway, was taking all the water from 
No. 2 steamer, which was located one block farther down the hill, at Third 
and Broadway. I then ordered the No. 2 steamer to take up and go to the 
fire cistern at Fourth and Delaware, which is five blocks from the fire. It 
was necessary to lay out 1,400 feet of hose, and by the time the steamer 
began to play on the fire the water had given out in the pipes, leaving 
Steamer No. 3 practically out of service. But soon the water was turned 
back into the pipes, and we were able to throw, from the water pipes, a 
very feeble stream. It required the services of the fire department nearly 
all the remaining part of the night to keep the fire from spreading to ad- 
joining property. 

Now, under the present condition of the system, which has been wholly 
depended upon for fire protection, and when, as it has been proved beyond 
a doubt, that it cannot be relied upon at all times, I deem it the duty of the 
Board of Public Works and the City Council to furnish to the fire depart- 
ment at least four additional steam fire engines, properly manned and 
equipped, to be placed in service at as early a day as possible ; and to also 
begin the construction of a system of public fire cisterns, beginning at the 
business center of the city and extending the system as fast as the city can 
find the means to do so, until a sufficient quantity of water is permanently 
stored under the public streets to protect the city against such accidents as 
above mentioned. 

In my opinion, the time has arrived for your honorable body to take 
some action in this matter. It seems like criminal carelessness upon the 
part of the taxpayers of this city to remain so poorly protected against the 
ravages of a great conflagration, which, in my judgment, is sure to visit this 
city before long if the above recommendations are not carried out. 

G. C. Haee, Chief Fire Department. 

Editorial Comments. 

The Board placed the communication on file, and will prepare an 
ordinance to be presented to the Council covering the question. They are 
unanimously of the opinion, and expressed themselves to that effect, that 
something must be done, and that the recommendations of the Chief of the 
Fire Department are excellent and ought to be adopted if the city had avail- 
able funds with which to carry them out. 

Another important and significant communication bearing on the fire 
pressure was received from Mr. W. I. Fetter, secretary of the Kansas City 
underwriters, and which admonished the Board that if something was not 
done to secure better fire protection, the insurance men would demand a 
higher rate of insurance. 

Mr. Fetter says that the scheme of the Chief of the Fire Department 
for additional fire steamers and public cisterns is a good one, and that it has 
been conclusively shown that the principal pipes of the water works com- 
pany cannot be depended upon in event of necessity. 

Mr. Fetter says that he does not wish to be understood as threatening 
the city with an increase of insurance rates, but simply states that as a fact. 
He has talked with a large number of the local insurance men, and they 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 347 



have been unanimous in the opinion that, unless something is done to give 
better protection, their companies will insist upon a higher rate for future 
writing. — Kansas City Journal, December 31, i8g2. 



MAJOR JONES HAS HIS SAY. 
The Water Works Superintendent Repeies to Chief Haee. — He 

Declares it wiee be Copied and that the Resuet wiee not be 

Favorabee to Kansas City.— Biees of the Company wiee not be 

Paid. 

Major B. F. Jones, Superintendent of the National Water Works Com- 
pany, expresses the opinion that the recent communication of Chief Hale, 
of the Fire Department, to the Board of Public Works, will re-act unfavor- 
ably upon Kansas City. * * * 

The following is Major Jones' letter : 

I have read attentively in both morning papers the report of Chief Hale 
to the Board of Public Works, calling attention to the condition of the 
water works system of this city, which is well calculated to create much 
apprehension, especially among the underwriters * * * 

Mr. Hale's report will be copied in all the fire and water journals in the 
country, others of the press will comment unfavorably, and thus Kansas 
City will get another black eye. 

As a matter of precaution against the bursting of a main, which may and 
does occur in other cities as well as this, it is perfectly proper that the sug- 
gestions of Mr. Hale should be heeded. 

* * * the machinery, pipes and everything connected with the sys- 
tem is of the best material and construction obtainable * * * * 

We have no apprehension upon the subject of future breaks or lack of 
pressure. We are endeavoring to account for preceding breaks and to guard 
against repetition. We believe that there is no better water works system 
in the country, nor any better or more faithful or efficient fire department. 

B. F. Jones, 
Superintendent National Waterworks Company. 



EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 

In Hard Dines. Biees of the Company are Refused 
Approval at Every Turn. 

The National Water Works Company is having a hard row to hoe to get 
its money from the city. 

Yesterday the bill of the company for water furnished the city since 
July 1, 1892, was filed with the City Comptroller. It was then sent to the 
water committee of the two houses, consisting of Messrs. Spengler, Dahl 
and Butler of the upper house and Pendergast, Regan and Foley of the lower 
house. Here the bill was refused certification on the ground that the Com- 
pany was not fulfilling its contract with the city, and the bill was sent to the 
auditing committee, composed of Auditor Heny, Crawford and Aldermen 
Muehlschuster and Hayes. The committee refused to audit an uncertified 
bill, and there the matter rests. 



348 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The amount of the bill is $37,980, and with the unpaid bills for the first 
six months of 1S92, makes about $76,000, now claimed by the water works 
company against the city. As the matter now stands, this last bill cannot 
get before the Council in any shape or form. 

Chief Clerk John Shannon of the Comptroller's Office said yesterday: 
' 'As a matter of eiistom these water works bills have been sent here for years 
to be taken before the proper commiitee. I did this to-day when the bill 
came in and the house committee refused to certify to it. I then sent the 
bill down to the Auditor's office aud the auditing committee refused to affix 
their signatures to it because it had not been certified to." There is no doubt 
that the service rendered by the waterworks company is inadequate ; accord- 
ing to their account, the city now owes the water works company about 
$76,000, or pay for the whole of the year 1892. 

There is no telling the outcome of the present contest, as the council- 
men say they are determined that the city's money shall not be paid out for 
a water service that they consider inadequate and not up to the contract. — 
A'ansas City Times, January 1, 1893. 



Kansas City had a narrow escape on Monday, through fire, which broke 
out in the Atlas Carriage Works. After thirty minutes of work, the depart- 
ment had the fire nearly under control, when a 24-iuch water main burst at 
Seventeenth and Walnut streets. The bursting of the main caused the water 
supply to be shut off and Chief Hale sent for two steam fire engines. With the 
streams thrown by the steamers he was enabled to keep the fire within the 
building. * * * If the fire had been in any other part of the city, 
Chief Hale said that it would have been impossible to have controlled it. 
He spoke very bitterly of the water pressure, and said that he had notified 
the Mayor in regard to it. — From Fire and Water, New York, December 
31, lS 9 2 - . 

Kansas City Jottings. — From Our Regular Correspondent. 

The National Water Works Company of Kansas City, has put a wagon 
and tools, together with a driver, in the Fire Department of No. 5 house, 
the purpose being to anticipate and promptly valve off all bursted water 
mains. — Fire and Water, January 21, 1893. 



Kansas City Jottings.— From Our Own Correspondent. 
Kansas City, Mo., has been recently visited by fire, serious fires coming 
one on top of the other, and aggregating a loss of almost $400,000. All of 
these fires come in the night time, when the water pressure is, of course, at 
its best, and yet the pressure was so poor as to be directly attributable as one 
of the causes of the amount of the loss. The citizens cried out in alarm at 
perceiving the incipidity of the pressure and the tireless exertions of the fire- 
men vainly trying to quench the flames with miserable streams that were 
mocked at by the flames with aggravating impunity, only tended more to 
excite the citizens' indignation. That the fire was confined to the building 
in which it caught was looked upon by all as superbly proving the splendid 
efficiency of our Fire Department, and full encomiums were showered upon 
the firemen from grateful lips, representing all classes of our commonwealth. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 349 



The physical exhibitions of weak fire protection from the water mains, 
as shown by the streams at these fires, have awakened anew the tangle be- 
tween the City and the National Water Works Company. * * * The 
controversy is decidedly unprofitable to the water company, and not fully 
creditable to the city since the city has used the company's water from its 
fire hydrants now for a year, and has not paid for the same, although it has 
the money in its vaults to do so. * * * The entanglement has reached 
the solemnity of a labyrinth. * * * About the only positive information 
that can be given on the subject is, that the city is getting poor fire protec- 
tion and the water company is getting no pay for its water. * * * 

Major Jones has been pelting paper pellets at Chief Hale. The sub- 
stance of which are enigmatical to all, and comes as a complete surprise to 
the Chief, who has held aloof from all this water works embroilment. But 
the Chief gallantly responded to the Major, and now Jones wished he had 
not meddled with the argumentative end of the wasp, as its replies are both 
pointed and stinging. — Fire and Water, February 7, /Sgj. 



It will be noticed by Major Jones' letter published in the 
Kansas City Times of January 1st, 1893, that he says, when refer- 
ring to the water works plant of this company : 

Its machinery, pipes and everything connected with the system is of the 
best material and construction obtainable. 

For the sake of argument, only, we will admit that it is as 
the Major states, except, in the matter of pipe distribution sys- 
tem. There is no doubt but that the National Water Works 
Company, of Kansas City, has the very best cast-iron pipe obtain- 
able, but a weak point regarding the best material obtainable is, 

That this company has provided a wagon and tools, together with a 
driver, in the fire department of No. 5 house, the purpose being to antici- 
pate and promptly valve off all bursted water mains. 

And that, in a city where the pressure on the main is so 
slight that — 

The miserable streams were mocked at by the flames with aggravating 
impunity, and which made the citizens cry out with alarm at perceiving the 
incipidity of the pressure, and the physical exhibitions of weak fire pro- 
tection from the water mains as shown by the streams at these fires. 

Is further comment upon the utter unreliability of cast-iron 
water pipe necessary ? If so, we would refer to the recent break- 
ing of a 36-inch cast-iron water pipe 13^-inch thick, at Chicago, 
Ills., December 12th, 1892, the pressure gauge showing that 
there was only thirty pounds pressure on the pipe when it 
burst. Also, the other breaks in the great forty-eight-inch cast- 



350 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



iron water mains at Brooklyn, New York, which were perfectly 
new pipe, two inches thick in the shell of the pipe and three 
inches thick in the bell ends of all four pipes that burst under 
reservoir pressure, the bursts being pieces as wide as two hands 
and eight feet in length and clear through the bell ends of the 
pipe. 

LAKE VIEW, ILLINOIS. 

Take View, Ills., is now getting 125,000 gallons of water a day; the 
pressure of 48 pounds to the square inch burst three of the cast-iron water 
mains yesterday. — Extract from the Chicago Evening Journal of August 
19th, 1892. 

LAWBENCEVILLE. 
Bursted Cast-Iron Water Mains. 

The recent accident to the water main at M orningside Station affords an 
apt illustration of the dependence of a highly organized community upon 
the proper and uninterrupted performance by the municipal government, of 
its every function, and of the importance of making ample provision against 
even unlikely accidents. 

A thirty-six inch water main burst without any assignable cause and left 
entire Lawrenceville and lower part of city without a water supply, beside 
the great inconvenience. This produced an almost general prostration of 
business and manufacture in that section. Mills and factories were closed, 
elevators could not be operated and steam heating systems were useless. The 
blame for this accident can be laid to no particular person. Its occurrence, 
however, shows the folly of depending for a water supply of a large manu- 
facturing and dwelling district, upon a single water main. A reserve 
emergency pipe is necessary beyond a question. — Fire and Water, March 
10, 1S94. 

LONDON, ENGLAND. 

Bursting of Water Pipes. 
Writing on the "Bursting of Cast-iron Water Pipes" Dr. Tyudall 
states, in his early days he was accustomed to give expression to the paradox 
" that there was no such thing as real uniformity in nature." In regard to 
cast-iron water pipes considered " almost uniform," the slightest accident, 
says Tyndall, on the interior surface, a speck of dirt, for example, will lodge 
at one point rather than at another. Specks of dirt will cause some portions 
of a cast-iron water pipe to be filled by a solid plug, while other portions 
continue to be filled with water. Now and then there will be spaces of 
liquid between the plugs which would require a considerable force to 
push them longitudinally through the pipe. The resistance to longitudinal 
motion may be so great that the pipe will be torn asunder while under 
ordinary pressure, across the line of least resistance. Such accidents to 
water pipes usually occur when the pipe is needed most to supply the 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 351 



quantity of water required for fire purposes. — Invention, London {Eng.), 
May ig, i8g2. 



AMERICAN" WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION. 

Repairing Leaks and Breaks in Cast-Iron Water Pipe. 

The following extracts from the published proceedings of the 
American Water Works Association of 1892 (pp. 120 to 126), 
will be of interest as showing to a certain extent the expense 
attending the repairing of leaks and breaks in cast-iron pipe. 
Mr. Alexander (who closed the debate) refers to wrought-iron 
pipe, and his remarks imply that the trouble, enormous expense 
and the danger of being deprived of the water supply for an 
indefinite period, would, to a certain extent, have been avoided 
were wrought-iron pipe (instead of cast-iron) used for the purposes 
mentioned. 

Mr. Benzenberg is City Engineer and Prest. of the Board of Public Works 
of the City of Milwaukee, Wis. 

Mr. Garner is Supt. Water Works at New Orleans, Ea. 

Mr. Babcock is Chief Eng. of Water Works at Little Falls, N. Y. 

Mr. Brush, is Chief Eng, and Supt. Water Works at Hoboken, N. J. 

Mr. Alexander is Supt. of the Pennsylvania Water Company at Wilkins- 
burg, Pa. 

Mr. Gardner: Mr. Benzenberg has stated that he tests his pipe once 
a year. I would like to ask how he does it. 

Mr. Benzenberg : We have a valve at each end of the main rising 
from the river bottom. Connecting therewith, between the valves on each 
side, we have a connection to which we can attach a force pump and a pres- 
sure gauge. We also have manhole connections on the down grade side of 
gate, so as to enter the pipe. The pipe is emptied by a waste-way near the 
water line. The gates are closed, the manholes are opened, and it is 
observed whether there is any leakage through the valve. Then on either 
side we fill up the main again, and put on an additional pressure of about 
fifty pounds, and by the pressure gauge attached determine if there is any 
leak, and to what extent. * * That is our method of testing. We do 
that on all our mains for self-protection. We have mains crossing the rivers 
at different points, and occasionally find that they need repairing at differ- 
ent points. East year we had two mains broken in our river. 

Mr. Babcock : How do you locate these leaks under water ? 

Mr. Benzenberg : We engage a diver, and have him follow up the pipe 
joint by joint. It cannot, however, always be located. We had a leak 
on a thirty-six inch main that bothered us considerably. The leak was 
not a very large one, but still it was a leak. We tried to locate it for 
nearly a week, but the diver could not place it at all. We let the matter 
go, and finally tried it on again, eight or nine months afterwards, and found 
that the leak had increased. We sent the diver down again, and he ex- 
amined every joint. He went over the bottom of the river, and found no 



353 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



indication of water coming from a leak. It could not be discovered any- 
where at the joints. 

Mr. Babcock : Was not that an expensive operation ? 

Mr. Benzenberg : Well, it was. We let the matter go until the fall, 
and then the leak indicated itself upon the surface, and, in making an 
examination, it was found to be on the bottom of the pipe, and had gradu- 
ally worn through the thirty-six inch pipe. It had cut a groove as large, 
and like the shape of a finger. The reason it had not been discovered 
before was because the leak was on the bottom of the pipe. 

Mr. Babcock : How did you repair that leak ? 

Mr. Benzenberg: In that case I had two half sleeves cast that took 
in the entire part of the pipe that had been grooved out by the force of the 
water, thus reenforcing the pipe and making a sealed connection. The 
connection consists of, you might call it, two hubs as half sleeves with the 
joint run over the entire lead space in the hub beforehand, then the sleeves 
were parted, and with a small lead joint in the sleeve horizontally joined 
them by bolts securely around the pipe. The lead was quite soft, and 
pressed down on the pipe. We had two such experiences. About a year 
ago the water was quite low, being carried out by the west wind, and one 
of the Lehigh Line of steamers grounded on one of our pipes and broke a 
section nine feet in length. By shutting off this section we found that 
the break was at this particular point. We have had no trouble with it 
since, and in a similar way repaired a small break in the middle of a pipe 
line at another point crossing the same river. 

Mr. Babcock : You used divers in making these examinations. It is 
expensive, is it not ? 

Mr. Benzenberg : The repairing of this break caused by the Lehigh 
steamer cost us between $r,ioo and $1,150. That included the expense of 
lowering the main, cost of special casting and of making the repairs. 

Mr. Babcock : It is a good deal of money to spend to repair a break. 

Mr. Benzenberg : That is true. 

Mr. Brush : As I understand, Mr. Benzenberg, it is this, that in order 
to repair breaks under the river an ordinary cast sleeve is run with soft 
lead, cold, so as to make as near a perfect fit as possible, and then bolted 
on over a leak or joint, and can be screwed tight, and can be got so as to 
make a practically tight joint on large pipes — say thirty-inch pipes. 

Mr. Benzenberg : Yes, sir ; that has been done. 

Mr. Brush : When a break is repaired in this way you test the main, 
and I suppose you find the main is reasonably tight? 

Mr. Benzenberg : There may possibly be a sweating or seepage through 
the joint. The test would indicate this in the course of time on the pressure 
gauge ; but we do not take any account of this. Our mains are subjected 
to from fifty -five to fifty-eight pounds pressure. 

Mr. Brush : In connection with this question of repairing mains under 
water, we have had some experience on our works. We use the Ward 
joint. It works very satisfactory ; so satisfactory, in fact, that we did not 
go to the expense that Mr. Benzenberg very wisely incurred in examining 
every year the mains. Suddenly we found that we were without water. 
The result of the examination showed that the river had scoured so that 
the main hung as a chain at a given point in the channel. After the main 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 353 

had settled till iron met iron, it suddenly parted. Since that time we 
began to use the method our friend has recommended. The only remedy 
is to do as Mr. Benzenberg does — that is, send a diver down and examine 
every pipe crossing at least once each year. 

Mr. Espy : I desire to add a word to what has already been said on 
the paper now before us for discussion. The compairy I represent (The 
Wilkesbarre Water Co., of Wilkesbarre, Pa.) laid two 1 8-inch pipes across 
the Susquehanna River, at a point near our city. The pipes were used only 
in extreme dry weather to pump from large wells into the main supply 
pipe. About two years ago it became necessary to use them, when it was 
discovered that one of the lengths of pipe had been broken, evidently by 
the ice. 

Mr. Alexander : When we laid our construction lines in the Allegheny 
River about three years ago, we had probably six all told. Two weeks after 
we laid the pipe, we had occasion to look for it, and found that some other 
fellow had laid a pipe across ours, and in another month another pipe was 
laid, and then another, so that they riprapped our pipe with pipe. This 
pipe is all wrought-iron, and it is rare to see a leak in the pipe under the 
river. There are as man}' pipes in the river as in the streets. They are 
screwed up and dropped into the river — gas, water, oil and everything com- 
bined — and you have got to mark your pipe to know it when you want it. 

The President announced the next order of business. 

Note. — Mr. Alexander's remarks were to the point. Cast- 
iron pipe must have a sure and permanent foundation to rest 
upon in order to avoid breaks and leaks, but Mr. Alexander's 
experience is that wrought-iron pipes are dropped into the 
Allegheny River upon and across each other, and in such num- 
bers, that they must be marked in some manner in order that 
they may be known — gas pipes, water pipes, oil pipes "and 
everything combined." It can be readily surmised the length of 
time that a cast-iron pipe would be serviceable under like cir- 
cumstances. 

Do not the foregoing quotations suggest the total unrelia- 
bility of cast-iron pipe for water works systems? Do they not 
show that it cannot be depended upon — that it must undergo a 
searching and expensive examination "at least once each year"? 
Suppose (in Mr. Espy's case) a fire had broken out and it had 
become necessary to draw on his " large wells " in order to 
obtain a sufficient supply, of what benefit would that supply 
have been ? What would the taxpayers have said, and what 
would their feelings have been when they, as well as their sup- 
erintendent, found " that when it became necessary to use them 
it was discovered that one of the lengths of pipe had been 
broken " ? 



354 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



McKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The cast-iron water pipe in front of Carl Hitzrot's store burst to-day 
and filled his cellar full of water. — McKeesport Times, May u, 1883. 



This morning at 1 130 o'clock Officer Cusminger noticed the water flowing 
from the ground at Donovan's corner in volumes like a water spout, and at 
once saw that the cast-iron water main at the corner had burst. The 




cause of the main bursting, we learn from the superintendent, is on account 
of the defective piece of the cast-iron pipe, which was much thinner on one 
side than on the other. Our reporter was informed that this was an import- 
ant drawback to the use of cast-iron pipe, and for this reason cast-iron pipe 
has to be made very heavy, as in its manufacture it is very apt to be defec- 
tive on account of the variation in the thickness of the iron. — McKeesport 
Times, May 21, 1883. 



The cast-iron water main on Locust street burst Tuesday. 
port Paragon, October ij, /8Sj. 



-McKees- 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 355 



The accompanying illustration shows a piece of new cast- 
iron pipe which stood the foundry test all right, but broke in 
two when being lowered into the trench. The ends of the pipe 
were of uniform section, and the thin place could not be detected 
until it broke, by not much more than its own weight. 

McKkesport, Pa., November 27th, 1894. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M.\ National Tube Works Co., New York. 
I send you by express to-day a short piece of cast-iron pipe. This is 
from a piece of city main furnished McKeesport. I think it is some they 
are laying at the present time. I got a piece about a foot long. I sent 
one piece to Mr. Lamb, this one goes to you, and I keep the other in the 
oftice. 

(Signed) J. H. PIERCE. 

McKEESPORT, Pa., December 12th, 1894. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M., National Tube Works Co., New York. 
Answering your letter of December 5th regarding short piece of cast- 
iron pipe which I sent you some days ago. I find it was manufactured by 
the Addyston Pipe & Steel Co., whose general office is at Cincinnati, and 
whose works are on the opposite side of the river at Newport, Kentucky. 
(Signed) J. H. Pierce. 



NEW YORK CITY. 
GEYSER IN THIRD AVENUE. 
Water from a Broken Cast-Iron Main Rises Above an Elevated 
Station. — A big Crowd Amused and a big Policeman Tanta- 
lized by Two Street Arabs who Stripped and Enjoyed the 
Shower Bath. 

Sleepers in the neighborhood of Third avenue and Twenty-third street 
were awakened at 5 A. M. yesterday by a fierce roar, which quickly sub- 
sided into the rush and swish of a small cataract. People who stuck their 
heads out of the windows — and there were several hundred of them — saw a 
beautiful sight. The water pipe under the elevated railroad station on the 
west side of the avenue had burst and was sending a big stream high 
into the air. Half of the column struck the station. The other half rose 
above it, attaining a height of thirty or forty feet. As it fell back it broke 
on the roof, enveloping the station in clouds of spray that flashed rainbow- 
like in the rays of the rising sun. 

The accidental geyser spouted away for half an hour, flooding the street 
from curb to curb. The splash of water against the station, audible for two 
or three blocks, drew spectators from a distance until a crowd of several 
hundred late home-seekers and early risers had gathered. Two street arabs 
watched the cooling column rise and then one of them said, " Chimmie, 
le's try de shower bath." For answer, " Chimmie " slid out of his tattered 
clothes, and in a moment both looked like cupids caught in a waterspout. 
A policeman came up, and for ten minutes frisked around the edge of the 



356 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



water trying to catch the urchins, but they went in close to the opening, 
and the officer, mindful of his Sunday uniform, postponed the capture until 
the boys stood shivering and pleading for their clothes. — New York Sun, 
August j, 1892. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER MAIN. 
Bottom Falls Out of Broadway. — Water Main Leak Causes a 

Cave-in. — Great Hole at Broadway and Tenth Street From 

that Cause. 

New York, March 10. — (Special.) — A big hole on Broadway at the 
northeast corner of Tenth Street attracted much attention to-day. The 
swampy space covered by actual measurement eighteen feet wide and fifteen 
feet in depth. It was caused by a defect in the Tenth Street Croton water 
main, which for some time permitted water to disintegrate the loamy soil. 
The brick sewer four feet high by 2 feet 8 inches wide, which runs west through 
Tenth Street had been broken by the weight of the water-soaked earth and 
opened a channel through which the bottom soil was carried away, thus 
permitting the street surface overhead to crumble in. The big Tenth Street 
sewer leading west had its beginning only a few feet east of Broadway, and 
in consequence the break in the main did not cause an overflow of sewage, 
and the water from the defective main, flowing into the gap in the sewer 
effectually carried off loamy soil above. As soon as the cave-in occurred 
the broken water main was repaired. — Chicago Inter-Ocean, March n, 1894. 



IT FLOODED HARLEM. 
Two Million Gallons from a Broken Croton Main Fills Streets 

and Cellars. — Brave Janitor McDowell. — Barefooted in an 

Ashpit, He Draws Burning Coals from a Threatened Furnace. 

— Young Mr. Roberts' Danger.— Knocked Senseless in a 

Flooded Cellar While Turning Off Electricity. 

A Croton water main burst yesterday afternoon at 125th Street and 
Lexington Avenue, with a deafening report that was heard half a mile away. 
All the streets and cellars in the neighborhood were flooded. 

The water issued in a large volume from the broken pipe at the rate of 
38,000 gallons a minute, and when shut off, fifty minutes later, nearly two 
million gallons of Croton had been thrown into the street. 

Two twenty-inch water mains pass through the street, and connecting 
with these at Lexington Avenue there is a twelve-inch pipe that distributes 
Croton to the houses north of 125th Street to the Harlem River in Lexington 
Avenue. It was this pipe that burst yesterday. 

Watchman Yale was standing at the temporary wooden bridge over the 
excavation at one o'clock when he was startled by a shock under him that 
knocked him three feet in the air. The twelve-inch pipe had burst near its 
junction with the twenty-inch main. There being no factories running to 
consume the water, the pressure was unusually high. 

Frightened almost out of his wits, Yale, when he recovered his feet, 
sought refuge in a house a block away. The water poured out of the pipe 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 



357 



and, forcing its way through the planks of the bridge, ascended twenty-five 
feet in the air in sprays that made a beautiful fountain effect. 

The bod)- of the water finding a larger exit to the east of the bridge, 
surged upon the sidewalk in a volume of sufficient strength to knock half a 
hundred men down. It rushed down 125th Street with the force of a small 
Niagara, spreading devastation everywhere. Pedestrians became panic- 




Where the Main Burst. 



stricken before the advancing stream and ran into stores and took asylum 
in open vestibules. Women screamed, and with then - skirts suspended 
paddled through the water to places of safety. The deluge extended to the 
north cable track in the street, filling the conduit with water. At Third 
Avenue intense excitement prevailed among the men, women and children 
waiting there for cars. The flood rushed down on the crowd, dispersing it 
in all directions, and swinging around the northwest corner continued up 
the sidewalk and gutter to 129th Street, where it emptied into a sewer basin. 
All the cellars along the avenue, as well as those in 125th Street, were 
flooded two or three feet deep. 

Small boys only appreciated the situation. They disencumbered them- 
selves of their shoes, removed their stockings, and rolling up their trousers 
waded into the water in the conventional Coney Island style. They pro- 
cured boxes and endeavored to stand in them, but the force of the water 
was too great, and the boxes were washed from under the feet of the urchins, 
who were precipitated iuto the swiftly moving stream. 

A well-dressed woman, carrying a pug dog, jumped on a box, which was 
swept from under her with such suddenness that she was thrown headlong 
into the water with her pug. The woman, greatly embarrassed, finally 
effected her escape. 



358 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



There was dire trouble in the Twelfth Ward Bank, which occupies an 
eight-story building on the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue. Post 
Office Station " L " is located on the ground floor, in which there were a 
number of letter carriers at work at the time. Janitor McDowell was eating 
his dinner, when he heard a rushing sound in the dynamo room, which is 
at the extreme east of the building under the 125th Street sidewalk. Investi- 
gation revealed water pouring through the brick wall, and while he was 
looking at it it began to force its way up through the cement flooring in 
small streams, which increased in size every minute. Soon water was rush- 
ing into the room from every direction, and quickly pulling off his shoes and 
stockings McDowell waded forward with a handful of waste cotton and huge 
iron weights, with which he stopped two drains through which water was 
pouring in heavy volumes. There was then fully two feet of water on the 
floor, and it had reached the dynamo, destroying part of the costly 
machinery. 

Brave Janitor McDowell. 

Then, remembering the boiler room, McDowell abandoned the dynamo 
and pushed his way there through two feet of water. There was fire in but 
one of the two boilers, which are located under the Lexington Avenue side 
of the building. Forty pounds of steam were registered, and the water 
which was pouring into the room through two side walls as well as through 
the cement flooring, was within a foot of the boiler door. 

Realizing the danger of an explosion and a catastrophe, McDowell be- 
gan to bale the water out with a bucket, but for every one bucket that he 
removed twenty came in, and he determined to adopt the only alternative 
left and started to draw the fire. 

In his bare feet he jumped down into the overflowing ash pit, and with 
huge poker in hand, vigorously pulled the glowing coals out into the water, 
which became so warm that the brave janitor screamed with pain. It was 
life or death with him, and although burned by the coals until the blood 
oozed from his wounds, he never relinquished his self-elected task until the 
source of danger had been removed. Then he scramble d out of the pit and 
waded back to the main part of the cellar, where a similarly bad condition 
of affairs prevailed. 

Although suffering excruciating pain he explored the remainder of the 
cellar, and erected an extempore bridge of planks and boxes that extended 
to the vault under the corner sidewalk. This was directly behind the broken 
pipe, and the water penetrated the solid brick walls with greater force than 
at any other place. This state of affairs lasted for three hours or more, and 
then steam pumps were put to work to remove the water, which, however, 
oozed through the walls and ceiling until a late hour last night. 

In D. M. Williams & Co's dry goods store, at 125th Street and Third 
Avenue, the entire cellar was flooded, and nineteen year old Thomas Roberts 
sustained an electric shock that nearly killed him. The water poured into 
two electric converters in the basement, and being an excellent conductor 
the electricity was communicated through the water to all parts of the 
cellar. 

Senseeess From Shock. 

Watchman Isaacs became frightened, and summoned Roberts, who 
possesses some knowledge of electricity. He undertook to turn the lever o 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 359 



the converters and received a shock that knocked him into the water sense- 
less. Isaacs picked him up and carried him to another part of the cellar, 
where he finally revived. 

All efforts to check the influx of water proved futile, and in half an hour 
empty boxes, hats and other material stored in the cellar were floating 
about the place. 

In Third avenue the water rushed into the cellar of Thornton's restau- 
rant through three large openings in front. Mrs. Thornton, who heard the 
shock of the bursting main, vainly endeavored to prevent the place being 
flooded by blocking the holes with boards, which, however, were quickly 
washed away. Barrels of cabbages, tomatoes and other material were soon 
swimming around the cellar. All the storekeepers along the avenue fared 
similarly. 

Another stream of almost as large volume as that which swept down 
125th Street rushed up Lexington Avenue to 128th Street and through the 
intersecting streets. The flood was so great that the residents inside the 
boundary could not leave their homes. 

Brandes Brothers' store, on the corner opposite the Twelfth Ward Bank, 
was filled with three feet of water. 

Superintendent Kennedy, of the Harlem district, was notified of the 
break and sent a gang of men up to make repairs. Meanwhile the water 
was shut off in the main, leaving the residents in the neighborhood without 
Croton. — New York Herald, August 2j, 189^. 



ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. 
Millions of Gallons of Water Believed to have been Lost. 
Orange, N. J., Oct. 15. — The water in the reservoir which supplies the 
city of Orange was found to be growing continuously lower on Saturday. 
To-day it was discovered that a six- inch main on Argyle Avenue, in the very 
highest part of the city, had burst, and from the break the water had been 
steadily flowing, undermining the streets, and finally finding its way to the 
tidal chamber at Belleville. It is estimated that the water was being forced 
through the break under an eighty or ninety pound pressure. Alderman 
John P. Dexheimer, Chairman of the Water Committee of the Common 
Council, says that millions of gallons were lost. Men are now at work re- 
pairing the break. — New York Sun, October 16, 1894. 



PEORIA, ILLINOIS. 

Supply of the Entire City Shut Off for Twenty-Four Hours. 
Peoria, III., Aug. 24. — The citizens of Peoria suffered all last night 
and all day to-day from a scarcity of water. The break in the main sup- 
ply pipe of the Peoria Water Company was even more serious than was at 
first supposed, and it was not until six o'clock to-night that the damage was 
repaired and the water again turned on. Nearly three hours more were 
required to fill the pipes. The hotels suffered most severely, for it was 
almost an impossibility to obtain a supply of water. A number of accidents 



360 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



occurred to elevators throughout the city. As soon as the water gave out 
many elevators dropped to the basements, and, while no serious mishaps 
occurred, many people were bruised and badly frightened. The Fort Clark 
Electric Railway had men hauling water all night long to fill its boilers, and 
many industries had to do likewise. Work on the streets was to-day sus- 
pended from lack of water, and many were the hardships reported. For- 
tunately there were no fires, though extra precautions had been taken by 
the Fire Department. 



philadelphia, pennsylvania. 
Burst Cast-Iron Pipes — Water Suppey Items. 
Tate one night last week a sleeve on the large thirty-inch water main 
leading from the Shawmont pumping station to the Roxborough reservoir, 
near Philadelphia, Pa., was forced from its position by the pressure. The 
break caused a report like the explosion of a steam boiler, and a column of 
water shot up into the air fifty feet. The high wind at the time threw the 
water over 200 feet, falling over the Reading railroad station, and deluging 
the engine house and boiler rooms of the pumping station. Portions of the 
embankment next to the Reading railroad and the roadway around the 
station were badly washed, and two sections of the stone wall were carried 
away. When the rushing water forced its way into the boiler and engine 
rooms of the pumping station the employes fled for their lives. Engineer 
Joshua C. Bartlett, while trying to escape from the main entrance of the 
building, was caught in the flood and carried down to the Schuylkill River. 
Policeman James Fullerton, at the risk of his own life, rushed into the water 
and rescued Bartlett just as he was being swept into the river. The water 
subsided after all had run out of the two mains from the reservoir and work- 
men began to make a new connection. * * * East evening the piston 
of Engine No. 3 broke, crushing the cylinder head and completely disabling 
the pump and engine. Several days will elapse before repairs can be com- 
pleted. — Fire and Water, May 13, 1893. 



PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Now, as in the case of Philadelphia, the cast-iron syndicate 
and individual foundrymen have referred to Pittsburgh as com- 
manding the best engineering talent in connection with its 
water supply. Under the head of "Philadelphia" we give 
expression to the published utterances of Supt. Ludlow, and in 
another Chapter will be found a letter from Supt. Browne, of the 
Pittsburgh water works, which will be particularly interesting, 
inasmuch as the cast-iron men refer to him as an expert, 
and to the Pittsburgh system as being the best in use. From 
what we know of Mr. Browne, we concur with the cast-iron men 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 361 

that he is amply qualified to judge of all classes of pipe, and to 
tell which is the best. 

In 1883 this system consisted of in miles of cast-iron pipe. 
During the year 1883 there were reported 182 leaks in the mains, 
and 2,861 feet were taken up and replaced with new pipe. The 
cost of the "Maintenance of Pipe Lines" for 1883 was 
$18,122.78. 

We copy a few clippings from the Pittsburgh papers, men- 
tioning the troubles which have occurred from the use of cast- 
iron pipe, and a perusal of them will show how extremely dam- 
aging it is to health and property, as well as expensive to the 
city : 

BREAKS IN WATER MAINS. 

Some; of the; Broken Pipes Found to be Merely Sheees. 
"There is nothing new in the Water Department," said Superintendent 
Browne yesterday, " except the numerous serious breaks." "Are the breaks 
caused by the usual head of water?" " Not altogether. While the frost is 
in the ground the earth acts as a support to the pipes, but it is now thawing 
and the weak pipes are unprotected. In all the breaks that have occurred 
the cast-iron pipes have been found " honeycombed " and corroded to such 
an extent that they were mere shells. Some of the samples taken from the 
broken main on Third Avenue show the pipe to be very unsafe. We can't 
tell where a break may occur during a ground thaw, but will be required 
to keep on the alert so as to limit the damage as much as possible. The 
break on Fourth Avenue to-day, between Wood and Smithfield Streets, did 
not do any serious damage, and will be repaired to-night." — Pittsburgh 
Dispatch, April 2d, 18S3. 

The water was turned on in the new 12-inch cast-iron main on Mary 
street, at Eighteenth, yesterday. The pressure was so great that a number 
of breaks occurred in the old lateral mains, cutting the supply off in many 
places. The breaks are being repaired to-day. — Pittsburgh Telegraph, July 

28, 1883. 

The large cast-iron water main at the corner of Wylie avenue and Elm 
street burst last evening. Considerable damage was done to the street 
before it could be shut off. — Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle, August 27, 
1883. 

The cast-iron water pipe leading to the basin above the Union Depot 
has been leaking badly for the past few days, and yet the water is scarce in 
the lower part of the city. — Pittsburgh Leader, September 28, 1883. 



Second avenue was trying yesterday to monopolize the sensations of 
the city. In addition to the Boyd's Hill avalanche, the alarm of fire at the 
Kensington rolling mills, the cast-iron water main burst at a point near 
the Second avenue school-house, and tore up the street to such an extent 



362 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



that the drivers of the Ormsby and Second avenue cars were obliged to 
unhitch their teams and shove the cars over the break. — Pittsburgh Dis- 
patch, September 28, 1883. 

Many Burst Cast-Iron Water Pipes. 
There is much profanity being indulged in to-day by residents of the 
Hill over the many burst cast-iron water mains. The worst break noticed 
was on Wylie avenue, above Fulton street, where the street is badly 
flooded. — Pittsburgh Leader, January 21, 18S3. 



The Coed Snapping the Cast-Iron Water Pipes. 
The continued cold spell is beginning to have an apparent effect upon 
the cast-iron water mains in the different portions of the city. Last night 
there was a bad break near Schuetzen Park. On Roberts street consider- 
able damage was done by the break. The street was made almost im- 
passible and the cellars badly flooded, in some instances to a depth of five 
feet. — Pittsburgh Chronicle, February 23, 1885. 



PAYING THE PIPER. 
The Water Department to Take Up Large Cast-Iron Mains. 
Superintendent Browne, of the water works, has just completed his 
estimates for the replacement of the old and worn-out cast-iron water pipes 
under the principal streets of the old section of the city. These will be 
submitted to the Pipe Committee at their meeting next Monday. The 
amount to be expended in this way will foot up in the neighborhood of 
$50,000. — Pittsburgh Dispatch, March /j, sSSj. 



A CRY OF WATER. 
" More Water," Arises from ale along the Line. — Big Miees 
Ceosing Down. — Peopee in the Heart of the City with Hardey 
a Drop to Drink. — The Heaeth Physician Predicts a Heavier 
Death Rate than any in the History oe Pittsburgh. — Fears of 
a Great Conflagration. 

A city without water, and water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. 
The limpid Allegheny comes stealing from its far northern home and winds 
past this city without one thought of its parched, dusty, dry condition. 
The cool Monongahela, fresh from its beautiful Virginia sources, rolls 
quietly by, while Pittsburgh, like the rich man, stretches forth its hands 
and pleads, to heedless ears, for but one drop of water to cool its parched 
tongue. 

A no more inopportune time could have been selected in the whole year 
for such a drought than yesterday. With the Brooks law in full sway, the 
heated political situation, the favorite baseball clubs losing, and the mercury 
fairly stewing in its bulb, and jumping about from 92 to 95 as if the glass 
were too hot to stand on in any one place, all these complications and more 
caused perspiring, sweltering, palpitating Pittsburgh to sit down in sheer 
misery and fan itself, and growl and swear. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 363 



Unwilling men, who had never before taken a drink of beer, drank a 
glass yesterday to save their lives, and said it was bad, and took another and 
said it was worse, and then nearly fainted when a wild rumor spread about 
late in the afternoon that the breweries were obliged to shut down on 
account of the scarcity of water. Mills were shut down for the same cause, 
factories ceased work, elevators stopped running, and an overheated world 
toiled up-stairs and toiled down again. 

One paramount fear swayed all, and the uppermost thought in the 
minds of the business, the insurance and the mercantile world was, ' ' What 
if there should be a fire ? What if a spark, for the want of a drop of water, 
should kindle into a blaze, the blaze into a conflagration, and the conflagra- 
tion turn into a sweeping holocaust ? ' ' The very thought of which caused 
many to turn pale with apprehension. 

Outside of this fear of fire, another, and as grave a complication, was 
freely talked of. The almost entire absence of water right in the heart of 
this big city caused the most serious complaints and fears as to the health of 
the thousands of people crowded together in such torrid, unhealthy, mid- 
summer weather. 

When all of these dangers arise from the bursting of the gate-valve in 
one single 36-inch water main, too close an investigation cannot be made, 
and for this reason there are given below both sides of the question ; also, 
interviews with the prominent sufferers in all parts of the city, and with the 
officials of the city, of the water department, and some interesting figures 
from the Hiland reservoir. 

The accident to the main occurred at the corner of Butler and Forty- 
Fourth Streets, and from that point westward, the liquid famine existed. * 
* * 

The Allegheny County Tight Company, whose plant is located on 
Virgin Alley, uses probably more steam, and a consequent quantity of 
water, than any down-town place. To operate the many engines there 
requires ten boilers ranged in five batteries. Only several are worked fully 
during the day, but all are taxed to their utmost capacity during the night. 

The engineer said: " The short supply during the day has caused us 
much inconvenience, but, if it keeps as it is, we may be able to continue in 
operation. If it gets lower, however, we will have to shut down." * * * 

Dr. W. Snivel}-, Physician of the Board of Health, said that any 
thinking person would, of course, see that depriving the citizens of water 
at this season of the year is one of the greatest calamities that could befall 
the population. The result will clearly make itself manifest in the increased 
death rate that is sure to follow. * * * 

The leading insurance men of this city were seen late yesterday after- 
noon in regard to the shut-off of water, and the general feeling among them 
was one of apprehension and uneasiness, though, as a body, they had taken 
no action in the matter, and did not know that they should. 

All agreed that the situation was a serious one, and many thought the 
city would be liable in damages to any who should lose by a fire which 
could not be extinguished for want of an adequate water supply. Mr. 
Fleming, of Morris & Fleming, said the situation was alarming, yet not so 
bad at this time of year as it would be in winter, when there were fires kept 



364 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



up in nearly every room, as the danger of fires starting was much less in 
summer. * * * 

A reporter last evening visited the mills along the Allegheny River, to 
ascertain what effect the scarcity of water had upon them. 

Zug & Co., Shoenberger & Co., Brown & Co., Carnegie, Phipps & Co.'s 
Upper Union Mills, Parke Bros. & Co., and William Clarke & Co., all draw 
their supply of water directly from their own river pumps, and hence were 
able to run without the city water. 

At the works of the Standard Underground Cable Company the pres- 
sure had been very poor all day. The pressure was not sufficient to throw 
the water from the hose as high as the fourth story. At Charles & Co.'s 
nut works they had to close down yesterday morning, and will not start 
until this morning. About thirty-five men were out of work one day. 
Uast night there was enough water to fill the boilers, but not enough for 
the machines. They expect to go to work this morning. 

The pressure at Hussey, Howe & Co.'s mills was very weak during the 
day, as it was also at the lower mills of Carnegie, Phipps & Co. At the 
latter place it was feared at one time that they would have to shut down. 
The Union Storage Company have a water elevator at their warehouse on 
Twenty-fifth Street, which ordinarily will raise 3,200 pounds, but yesterday 
it was hard work to elevate 200 pounds on it. Consternation seized the mill 
men when it was reported that the main had broken again, and the outlook 
worse than ever. * * * 

In Municipal Hall the elevator had to be stopped because the water 
pressure was gone. Only the city offices on the ground floor had water in 
their hydrants. All upstairs offices were dry, and with no elevator accom- 
modations ; the higher up the worse the humor of the officials. It may be 
consolation to the public at large to know that the Bureau of Water is 
located on one of the topmost floors, and the Bureau had no water. 

All other elevators in town, with direct water pressure, were shut down. 
These are mainly in business buildings, the hotels having different arrange- 
ments for their elevators. Barber shops and restaurants afforded many 
laughable scenes as a result of the scarcity of water. * * * 

When the break at Forty-fourth Street had been finally repaired in the 
afternoon and the full head of water was again passing through the main, 
fresh trouble arose. The pipe burst in three places along Butler Street, viz. : 
Fortieth Street, Thirty-third Street and Exchange alley. This continued 
and rather increased the shortage of water in the lower part of town, and as 
the valve in the pipe also refused to work, the following w r as authorized by 
the authorities : 

"The water department requests that all citizens will be economical in 
the use of water to-day, as a valve in the main line has dropped and it will 
take until evening to remedy the matter. There will be more water to-day 
than yesterday, but there will not be a full supply." 

Superintendent Browne was not in his office all afternoon, but was out 
to the scene of the damage. His clerk could give no cause for the breaks. — 
Pittsburgh Dispatch, June 21, 1S8S. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 365 

WHAT WATER IS WORTH. 
The People of Pittsburgh Found that out Yesterday. Distress 

in the Hill District. Back to First Principles, the pump 

and the Pail. The Cause of the Drouth. 

When the Dauphiness Marie Antoinette was told the people were cry- 
ing for bread, she innocently asked why they did not eat cakes. Were she 
a resident of the Eleventh Ward of Pittsburgh yesterday she would probably 
inquire why the people did not drink Apollinaris, or wash in Eau de Co- 
logne, for water, measured by its scarcity, was a decided luxury there, as it 
was all over the city from 9 P. M. for an hour. Even the supply of beer in 
second hands, as the commercial people would say, was short, as the brew- 
eries had been restricted the day before, and if the famine had lasted an- 
other day, the milk manufacturers would have no resource but the shelter of 
the bankruptcy act. 

" Say, Mr. Waterman, I want to know how it is that we taxpayers 
were compelled to wash ourselves in sewer water this morning," exclaimed 
an indignant Hill resident, as he mopped the perspiration from his brow 
and glaringly confronted Clerk Denniston, of the Water Committee. The 
clerk went into a detailed explanation, and after satisfying the Hill man, 
who departed in a better humor than he entered, the clerksank wearily back 
into a seat and sighed as though he was weary of life. " It never rains but 
itipours, except when the weather man predicts rain," said he, " now that 
Butler Street main couldn't burst in a worse time than just in the midst of a 
hot spell, when all the water that could be pumped was needed. Yesterday 
we thought it was all fixed at 1 o'clock. The repairs had been made, when 
we suddenly had three more breaks. The result is, we have got to root the 
whole business out. Yesterday the downtown people were growling, and to- 
day the Hill people are doing the kicking. * * * 

Work will be commenced in a few days on the removing of old and the 
re-laying of new water pipe on Railroad and adjacent streets, and in all 
probability will be the means of increasing the city's revenue a neat 
amount. The pipe in question is a ten-inch pipe, and will be laid on Rail- 
road street, from Eighteenth street to Thirty-third street, the old pipe 
having worn out. New pipes will also be put in on a number of side 
streets, and considerable of the territory occupied by the mills along the 
Allegheny River will be touched. — Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. 

In connection with the foregoing facts regarding burst 
cast-iron pipe, and consequent great inconvenience and damage, 
old, worn-out, tuberculated and unserviceable cast-iron pipes, 
replacements, etc., we clip a few items from the voluminous 
official advertisements, as follows: 

Office of City Controller, \ 
Pittsburgh, April 23, 1887. j 
Sealed proposals will be received at this office until Wednesday, May 
4th, 1887, at 12 o'clock M. for re-laying new water pipe and removing old 
on the following streets : 

550 feet 6-inch, Chatham street, Fountain street to Wylie avenue. 
1,650 feet 4-inch, Cherry alley. 



366 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



350 feet 4-inch, Dante alley, Sixth avenue to Tunnel street. 

1,600 feet 6-inch, Etna street, Eleventh to Fifteenth street. 

800 feet 6-inch, Fayette street, Ninth to Tenth street. 

1,200 feet 6-inch, Ferry street, Water to Liberty street. 

450 feet 6-inch, Fort street, Penn avenue to Duquesne way. 

1,300 feet 6-inch, Fourth avenue, Liberty avenue to Wood street. 

830 feet 6-inch, Tunnel street, Fountain street to Fifth avenue. 

300 feet 6-inch, Eleventh street, Pike street to Etna street. 

800 feet 6-inch, Fourteenth street, Liberty street to Etna street. 

T,28o feet 10-iuch, Franklin street, Washington street to Fulton street. 

2,050 feet 6-inch, Fifth Avenue, Magee Street to Ross Street. 

1,000 feet 12-inch, Liberty Avenue, near Fourth Avenue to Sixth Street. 

1,200 feet 10-inch, Liberty Avenue, Water to near Fourth Avenue. 

160 feet 6-inch, Eighth Street, Exchange Alley to Liberty Street. 

2,750 feet 10-inch, Smithfield Street, Liberty to Water Street. 

400 feet 6-inch, Hazel Street, Elm to Fulton Street. 

1,000 feet 10-inch, Penn. Ave. and Water to Third Street. 

11,500 feet 12-inch, Penn. Avenue, Third to Thirtieth Street. 

1,600 feet 8 inch, Ross Street, Second Avenue to Water Street. 

4,450 feet 6-inch, Second Avenue, Stnithfield Street to Birmingham 
Bridge. 

1,000 feet 6-inch, Sixth Avenue, Grant Avenue to Fifth Avenue, etc. 
etc., etc. 

(Signed) E. S. Morrow, Controller. 

Department oe Public Works, \ 
Pittsburgh, Pa., July 13, 1888. / 
Sealed proposals will be received at the office of the City Controller 
until Tuesday, the 24th day of July, A. D, 1888, at 2 A. M., for removing 
and relaying new water pipes on the following streets as specified : 
13,850 feet of 4, 6, 8 and 12-inch pipe. 
For laying new pipe on the following streets as specified : 
29,487 feet of 4, 6, 8 and 12-inch pipe, etc., etc. 

For specifications, blanks on which bids must be made, and all other 
information, apply at the office of Superintendent of Water Supply and 
Distribution. 

Each proposal must be accompanied by a bond in double the amount of 
proposal, probated before the Mayor or City Clerk. 

The Department of Awards reserves the right to reject any and all bids. 
(Signed) E. M. BiGEEOW, 

Chief of Department of Public Works. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER MAIN. 

Caused a Water Famine. — Earth Breaks a Main at the Basin. — 
The Lawrencevieee Section was in a Miserable Plight dur- 
ing the Greater Part of the Day. 
Serious inconvenience to a large section of the city was caused by a 

break in a 36-inch water main at the Highland reservoir early yesterday 

morning. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 367 



Thousands of Families were without Water 

for several hours. There was a great scarcity all day in the whole of the 
Lawrenceville, Perm Avenue and down-town districts. The break occurred 
shortly after 4 o'clock. The point where the main gave way is on the hill- 
side in Highland Park, about 300 yards from the reservoir toward the 
Allegheny River. The break was discovered, it is believed, a few minutes 
after it occurred, by night-watchman Thomas McClelland, who was going 
in the direction of his home and heard it roaring. He hastened to the house 
of M. Bailey, who had charge of the basin in the day time, and the latter 
came and closed the gates through which the water passes from the reservoir 
into this pipe. The length of time the water was escaping was not more 
than half an hour, but it caused a fall in the basins — which have a combined 
surface of twenty acres — of about four inches. 

The force with which the water escaped from the broken section of pipe 
is described as something fearful. A great volume of earth was torn out of 
the terrace, and the water spurting across the roadway which lay below, 
washed into a small stream that ran in a ravine below. Its volume, for a 
time, was such as to uproot a number of trees which lined the side of the 
ravine. The water followed the course of this stream down to the Allegheny 
River, washing a considerable mass of debris upon the tracks of the Allegheny 
Valley Railroad, afterward causing delay in the running of trains. The 
trouble resulting to many thousands of people from the breaking of this 
main began almost as soon as they got up. The pipe being full of water 
up to the base of the reservoir, those dependent on it had a little water until 
it was all drained. Most of the people through the L,awrenceville district 
say they had no water after 7 o'clock until noon. At most of the down-town 
business offices the water was all gone when the occupants for the day 
arrived. 

A second 36-inch main comes in Penn Avenue, connecting with the 
basin on the opposite side from the Butler Street pipe, the one which broke. 
The supply was turned into the Butler Street pipe at the forks of the road, 
but the high parts of Lawrenceville were yesterday afternoon still without 
water. 

A large force of men was put to work to repair the break early yester- 
day. The water bureau had about 15 of its own men available, and 25 or 
30 more were obtained from the Park laborers. They worked energetically 
digging up the broken pipe. At supper time a new force was put on, with 
the intention of keeping at it all night. 

The depth at which the pipe was covered made the work of excavation 
for new connections and the removal of the broken pipe very great. 

When a Dispatch reporter visited the place yesterday afternoon the 
men had just gotten the broken section uncovered. The pipe is of cast- 
iron, about two inches thick, and a twelve foot joint had been broken into 
small pieces. It was split from end to end. It was not certain at the time 
whether more than one new joint of pipe would be needed or not, and three 
had been brought to be ready for any necessity. 

Superintendent Sheppard, of the Water Department, will uncover the 
main for about 100 feet near the break, and see that the ends and beds of 
the other joints are all right. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Of the troubles arising out of the broken main, and the lack of water, 
those of the Valley Railroad were the most serious. Their tracks for several 
hundred feet were covered with mud, and the engine of a passenger train 
coining into the city at 6:45 A. M. was derailed. None of the trains got in 
until 8 o'clock, at which hour the wrecking crew had the tracks cleared of 
the landslide caused by the water. 

The cars of the Citizens' Traction Company had to stop during the fore- 
noon on account of no water to run the engines. This trouble was remedied 
by getting fire engines and pumping water from fire plugs. At some of the 
mills along Penn Avenue, particularly the Crescent Steel Works, Iron City 
Tool Works, and Carbon Iron Works, total suspensions took place after an 
hour or two's work in the morning. The Twenty-ninth and Thirty-third 
Street works of the Carnegie Steel Company and the Black Diamond Steel 
Works had no trouble, as they operate their own water works. 

. At numerous down-town business houses there was trouble on account 
of lack of light and heat, the places being heated by steam and making 
their own electricity. The big hotels experienced some inconvenience, too, 
and numerous elevators would not run, among them those in the City Hall 
and Government Building. This was lucky for water officials, as everybody 
who called to kick had to climb to the fourth floor, and they did not all do 
it. School was suspended in some of the buildings where the water famine 
extended. 

Where steam was used for heating, it was of course impossible to keep 
warm. Among them was the Sisters of Mercy's school on Webster Street 
and the McCandless school in the Eighteenth Ward. But probably all the 
trouble to big business men and others with large responsibilities was not 
greater in the aggregate than that of the thousands of housewives in the 
L,awrenceville district who intended to wash clothes yesterday. They got 
started bright and early, but soon the water gave out, and they had to give it 
up. They had also lots of trouble getting water for cooking and toilet purposes, 
but between using a number of pumps for the one, and melting snow for 
the other, they managed to make out, and finally decided to bear the cross 
with resignation, until the morning, when they are confident there will be 
water in plenty. — Pittsburgh Dispatch, February ij, /Sp-/. 



The Business Portion of Pittsburgh, Pa., is Suffering from a 
Serious Water Famine. 
Should a fire occur in this portion of the city the result can only be sur- 
mised. On Wednesday morning the 36-inch main, the largest in the city, 
and through which Dawrenceville and the entire downtown districts are sup- 
plied with water, broke near the reservoir. When the break occurred a huge 
volume of water poured down the heavy grade, carrying everything before it 
with such force that the tracks of the Allegheny Valley Railroad near Morn- 
ingside station, were completely blocked with debris. An accommodation 
train ran into the slide, but beyond derailing the engine no serious damage 
was done. The large stores, clubs, hotels, mills, newspaper offices, etc., 
were greatly inconvenienced, while the' Penn Avenue and Wylie Avenue 
cable lines were stopped. — Fire and Water, Feb. 17, 1S9./. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 369 



Another Break in a 36-iNCH Main. 
A break in the 36-inch main between the Pennsylvania Railroad and 
Center Avenue, Pittsburgh, Saturday of last week, Nov. 17, caused much 
inconvenience to people in that section. As soon as the break was discov- 
ered a force of men was put to work to repair it. They worked all through 
Saturday night and all next day and night, but owing to the ponderous 
character of the break it is doubtful if it will be completed by 9 o'clock 
this morning. The men expected to get through during the night, but 
there was little hope that they would succeed. The effect of the water 
famine will be very bad from a sanitary point of view, and the physicians 
are much alarmed for fear it may cause an epidemic, short as the time may 
be during which the supply is cut off. Nearly all the houses in the district 
affected depend entirely for sanitation on the sewer system, but it is worth- 
less without a water supply. Fortunately the Herron Hill Reservoir supply 
was accessible to a number of districts near those which were shut off, so 
that by carrying water most people were able to get sufficient for domestic 
purposes. It was common yesterday to see men and women on the streets 
carrying water from the houses of distant neighbors. The springs that are 
still flowing here and there, particularly in the Twenty-Second Ward hills, 
were patronized to the limit of their capacity. — Fire and Water, November 
24, 1894. 



FONCA, NEBRASKA. 

The Ponca, Nebraska, water works have been a source of considerable 
annoyance to both the contractors and citizens. 

When first put in operation it was found that almost every joint of the 
piping leaked and would have to be re-caulked. — Fire and Water, Saturday, 
Dec. 31, 1892. 



PO UGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORE. 

Extract from the "Nineteenth Annual Report" of the 
Water Commissioners, City of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , pp. 13, 14, 
and 18. 

1 LEAKS. 

A serious leak occurred in the six-inch main at the foot of Main Street, 
on August 15th. 

A leak of considerable magnitude was discovered in the four-inch pipe 
extending from Pine Street through Prospect Street to the Vassar Hospital, 
on December 2nd * * The water had flowed from the leak into the trench 
without coming to the surface and was only discovered by special examin- 
ation when the unusual volume of water pumped in November was known. 
The leak was caused by a longitudinal crack in the pipe. 

Two leaks have occurred on the force main, caused by the starting of 
the lead at the joints. 

The water system comprises to date, 24-inch, 18-inch, 16-inch, 12-inch, 
2-inch, 6-inch, 4-inch cast-iron pipe — Total 97,164 feet. 

ChareES E. PowEER, Superintendent. 



370 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



PORTLAND, CONNECTICUT. 

A break occurred in the water main at Portland, Conn., and this town 
is without water except that supplied by cisterns, mills, etc. All the quar- 
ries, factories and other business places requiring water were shut down. A 
gang of men was immediately put to work by day and by night, and the 
repairs completed by Tuesday night. In the meantime business was at a 
standstill. — Fire and Water of June 24th, /Spj. 



PORTLAND, OREGON. 



Defective Water Mains Create Something Akin 
to a Famine. 

In many places on the East Side the water mains of the city water 
works are placed under the elevated roadwa}^ * * * 

Saturday night the pipe burst in a number of places * * * 

As a result, water was wanted all over East Portland. 

The pumps were only able to keep up a small pressure in the lower 
mains during the day. A force of men were put to work to discover the 
leaks and make repairs. — Morning Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, December 
26, 1892. 

Water and Light. 

The mains of the East Side Water Works have been thoroughly over- 
hauled and repaired, and the pressure is now up to 90 pounds at the fire 
hydrants. 

A good many links of cast-iron pipe were found split and leaking badly. 
These were replaced with new pipes. — Morning Oregonian, Portland, Ore- 
gon, January 3, /8pj. 



RAHWAY, NEW JERSEY. 

Water Pipes Burst. — A Serious Fire Results at Rahway. — The 
Gordon Opera House and Several Large Buildings Totally 
Destroyed. — Aid from New York City. 

Rahway, N. J., April 29. — A fire broke out early this morning in J. L. 
Freeman's large carriage factory and soon got beyond the control of the 
firemen. When the Gordon Opera House was seen to be in danger, assist- 
ance was telegraphed for to New York and Jersey City. The flames soon 
spread to the Opera House, and before assistance arrived both were in ruins. 
When the help telegraphed for arrived it was put to work to try and save 
the surrounding buildings. Most of the property would have been saved 
but for the bursting of the cast-iron water mains, which prevented the fire- 
men from doing effective work. The principal losses are the Opera House, 
scenery, piano, etc., belonging to the estate of Gordon, the printing press 
manufacturer, about $40,000 ; John Freeman's building and machinery, 
$20,000, and carriages $10,000. About $10,000 worth of finished stock was 
saved. John Helm's dwelling was burned, loss $3,500. — Pittsburgh Chron- 
icle Telegraph, April 29, 1885. 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 371 



SIOUX CITY", IOWA. 

A serious break in the old cast-iron water main near the pumping sta- 
tion occurred yesterday afternoon about 4:30. The joint at the bend of the 
main on the corner of West Sixth and Main Streets gave way, and earth and 
water were soon flying in all directions. Main street was flooded to a depth 
of three or four feet before the pumps were shut off. Luckily the reservoir 
contained about seven feet of water, and another fortunate circumstance was 
that it was Saturday night and an hour when water for power purposes 
would not be needed. As soon as the water settled the employees of the 
department began digging for the break, which was at a depth of twenty 
feet. The main will be repaired to-day. — From the Sioux City, la., Journal, 
November 10, 1S89. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. 

Extract from the twenty-first annual report of the Water 
Commissioners of the City of Springfield, Ills., page 18: 

The breaking of the main pipe on Ninth and Clay was caused by defects 
in the castings. 

We have also repaired fourteen leaks on main pipes. * * * 
Total amount of cast-iron main pipes, 27 miles and 2,000 feet. Respect- 
fully submitted, 

Pp:ter Berriman, Superintendent. 



STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 

A burst water main in Steubenville, Ohio, did $20,000 worth of damage 
one day last week. — Fire and Water, February 6th, 1892, page 68. 



ST. JOHNS, NEW BBUNSWICK. 

Teaks in old cast-iron water pipes have been giving considerable 
trouble in St. Johns, N. B., recently, and the Engineering Record states 
that the first of any importance was a 4-inch main laid in muddy soil. 
Some air cells were found in the body of the metal, but these apparently 
did no harm so long as the outside covering or skin retained its normal 
density. But this underwent a softening process, as had happened in other 
cases under similar conditions, and finally a piece was blown from the side 
of the pipe following the course of the air cells. The film of metal covering 
these air and sand holes was about one-eighth of an inch thick, and could 
be cut easily with an ordinary knife. The pipe had been in use about 
thirty -three years, and its interior diameter was reduced about half an inch 
by deposits. Another instance of this kind of failure occurred with a six- 
inch main. * * * It was one of the first pipes cast in the neighborhood, 
and was so badly "sided" that when the cracked piece was cut out the 
metal was found to be three-fourths of an inch thick at one place, while 
diametrically opposite it was but one-fourth. The pipe was laid in soft, 



372 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



slatey rock, and the nature of the material had been changed in some way 
so that the outer surface was soft and sectile like plumbago, showing a 
bright, smooth surface when cut. — St. Louis Globe-Democrat of August 
20th, iSpj. 



TORONTO, CANADA. 
A Broken Intake Pipe. 
In July, 1889, it was decided to extend the intake of the Toronto, Ont., 
water works about 350 feet beyond the existing intake. * * * Plans for 
the work were prepared by Walter C. Brough, at that time Engineer of the 
Water Works Department, and the contract was awarded to Wm. H. Law, 
of Peterboro, for supplying the 72-inch steel pipe at $15.98 per lineal foot. 
Late in July, 1890, a year later, divers began removing stones from the old 
crib. * * * Owing to delays of various kinds the first length of pipe 
was not launched until August 21, and it was found impossible to make the 
connection that season. The next year's work began in the middle of May, 
* * * and the first seven pipes were connected by June 16. * * * 
Then an examination of the work was made and the first joint was found to 
be broken, which delayed the work of completion until July 9, 1891, two 
years after it was ordered. * * * The new intake had not been down very 
long before it rolled off its supports, the joints broke open and the pipe par- 
tially filled with sand. The pipe was, of course, useless and is now being re- 
placed. — Engineering Record, of August 26th, 1S93. 



UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 

Under the heading of "Specifications," on pp. 102, 103, 
and 104 of The Tec/inic, the annual of the Engineering Society 
of the University of Michigan, for 1890, will be found the follow- 
ing: 

In connection with specifications for water works construction many 
engineers are accustomed to provide for an elaborate inspection of the pipe 
as it is delivei - ed from the carriers, by "ringing" with a hammer and 
various other means. It has been our observations that this process usually 
costs more than it comes to. 

The proper test of the ability of a cast-iron water pipe to do its duty is 
to make it do that duty. * * * While it is not infrequently the case 
that we find broken pipe, indeed sometimes pipe broken in two, it does not 
ordinarily occur except where there is a defect in the iron. Owing to the 
mode of casting usually adopted, with the bell up, the most defective part 
will usually be found in the bell, caused by the impurities rising to that 
place. The difficulty with a spongy bell is not so much that it will let 
water through, as that it may split in calking, and the only way to tell 
whether it will split is to calk it. * * * We have known apparently 
sound bells to split, the fracture revealing a streak of hard iron or giving 
evidence of abnormal strains in cooling. It is unnecessary to state that any 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 373 



amount of "ringing" would fail to detect such defects. A point that is 
often chosen as a weak one is the neck of the bell, where it joins the 
straight pipe. This, owing to a slight displacement of the core, is often 
found to be thin, and a spike is driven through it and the pipe is condemned. 
* * * jt j s a i so f the utmost importance that the pipe be tested as it is 
laid, before the trench is filled. Some contractors claim that it is unneces- 
sary, as they say a leak will be certain to show itself at the surface in time. 
No greater fallacy than this was ever taught. It is true that a large leak 
will come to the surface sometime, but it may be many feet from the loca- 
tion of the defect, and many weeks after its breaking out. It will be far 
more apt to show itself, if in damp ground, than in dry. To give an idea as 
to how long it may take a leak to become manifest, even in case of a large 
one, the following incident from the writer's own experience may be in- 
teresting : A line of pipe was laid in November and duly tested, but, owing 
to the cold and the danger of freezing, the test could not with safety be 
prolonged to as full an extent of time as desired. The soil was a dr}% 
yellow sand. Tate in the following May a slight dampness was discovered 
above the place of one of the tees leading to the hydrant. The water was 
shut off from the line, and an investigation commenced, when it was found 
that through a sand hole in the bottom side of the tee a jet of water was 
issuing fully three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and had worn out a hole 
in the sand underneath sufficiently large, that, when the water and loose 
sand were dipped out of it, there was room to work a ratchet and tap out 
the hole for a cast iron plug. 

The pressure carried was between 50 and 60 pounds per square inch, 
so that at the time of discovery about 16 gallons of water were going to 
waste per minute. 

A test made with a small feed-pump on about three miles of line by the 
writer during the past summer revealed the fact that not less than 30 gallons 
of water per minute were being wasted, and in two months not one of the 
leaks had come to the surface. * * * 

In the Pennsylvania oil and gas regions it is customary to test with air, 
and the joints are previously daubed with soap and water, which shows 
bubbles if there is the slightest leak. The contractor's trick there is to get 
some lime into the water. " * * 

Under the head of " Pipe Laying," on pp. 106, 107, we find 
the following : 

During the past summer no less than three miles of pipe was uncovered 
under our direction in the City of Owosso, Mich. This pipe had been in the 
ground from one to three months, had been laid with a guarantee that the 
joints should staud 200 lbs. pressure per square inch, much of it, with a test 
in the open trench known to be imminent, had been calked by experienced 
calkers who had been following the trade for several years, and yet, under 
100 pounds pressure on the 12-inch line forty-three out of forty-seven con- 
secutive joints were found to leak ; on the ten-inch an entire block did not 
have a sound joint in it ; on the eight-inch about sixty per cent, of the 
joints leaked, while on six and four-inch the percentage of leaking joints 
got down as low as thirty to forty. * * * 



374 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



On pages 108, 109, under the head of " Calking Lead 
Joints : " 

The lead joint, when properly made, is considered by all authorities to 
be the best yet devised for water, gas and oil pipes. * * * The writer 
was informed by one of the skilled laborers employed on a line where both 
the screw and lead joint were used that in a test of about 200 pieces each — 
the only test made on the entire line — it was found that So joints of the 
screw pipe leaked while not a leak was developed in the lead.* * * If 
the joint is very cold or damp at all it is always a good plan, and sometimes 
a very necessary one, to pour in a little oil. The heavier the oil the better. 
This prevents the lead chilling too soon and also prevents it spattering into 
the face of the men pouring. * * * The use of the joints will be found 
quite economical as it saves the services of the boy who makes the rolls, 
and a joint having been run with a jointer requires less time to calk than 
one where the roll is used. * * * 

A good calker will always calk the bottom of the joints first, because 
it is more difficult to do a good job there and if the top is calked last, the 
spigot is forced down against the lead at the bottom, so tightening the joints 
there. In nearly twenty miles of pipe where this rule was followed, although 
leaks were occasionally found on the top and upper sides, not one was found 
on the bottom. If the joint leaks on top it is very easy matter to drive the lead a 
little more and usually to close it up, but a leak at the bottom is much more 
difficult to get at. This is one of the best tests we know of of the ability 
and experience of a calker. Another good test is to have a man acknowl- 
edge that he cannot tell by looking at a joint whether it will hold or not. 
If a man says he can it can generally be relied upon that he has not seen a 
great deal of work tested. 

And on pp. 112, 113 and 114 — "A Peculiar Leak: " 

During the construction of a system of water works for the city of 
Greenville, Mich., a 12-inch main was laid across Flat River and through 
the lowlands adjacent on the North side it ran mostly in quicksand. 18 
lengths of pipe were lowered at once by means of jack-screws and as it was 
anticipated that there might be a tendency to spring in the joints, only a 
very light strand of yarn was used and the bell was run full of lead and 
thoroughly calked. After the pipe had been under pressure varying from 
40 to 160 pounds for about two months, a leak was discovered near the 
North bank of the river by the bubbles of water arising there. As it did 
not appear to be a large leak and its repair would involve quite an expen- 
diture and at a season when time was very precious, it was decided to let 
it go till a more convenient opportunity for repairing. For about two weeks 
there was no apparent change in the quantity of water being lost, but sud- 
denly one morning it began to boil up furiously and with a noise that could 
be heard for twenty rods. The effect was noticeable at the pumps and many 
were the conjectures as to what had happened. As soon as possible a gang 
of men were set to work to repair it. On getting down to the pipe a stream 
of water was flowing out from the lip of the bell and through a hole half an 
inch in diameter just to one side of the top of the pipe, and gallons of water 
were going to waste every minute. An examination developed that the 



BURST CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 375 



water had first worked its way through a series of blow-holes in the interior 
of the bell — which on the examination was apparently perfectly sound — to 
the outer edge and was there deflected by the lip of the bell so as to impinge 
upon the spigot about half an inch from the face of the bell. The jet of 
sand and water which became mingled had cut the outer hole in what 
appeared to be perfectly sound iron about half an inch thick and so had 
caused the leak which had created such an uproar. The path of the first 
jet along the spigot was marked by a groove about 2^ inches long and }+ 
wide, the hole being in the center. The edges of the hole were as sharp as 
they could be imagined to be. 



WEST SUPERIOR. 



The cast-iron water main broke loose in front of the Chicago store this 
morning and tore up the pavement. — West Superior, (Wis.,) Call, April 
21, 1890. 



376 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



CORRODED, INCRUSTATED AND TUBERCU- 
LATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 

The incrustation of cast-iron pipe is so sure that to reject it 
after it takes place is as much a part of the cast-iron pipe busi- 
ness as it is to produce the clean pipe in the first place. 

A paper on this subject was read by R. T. Swallow, before 
the North of England Institute of Mining Mechanical Engineers. 

Below is an extract from this paper, with the same head- 
lines adopted by the author. 

We must again call attention to the fact that durability and 
serviceability are synonymous terms, and that cast-iron pipe 
once tuberculated, is not only foul and unwholesome but the 
initial service is seriously impaired. 

E. T. SWALLOW. 

INCRUSTATIONS IN CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 

A Method of Removing Deposits from the Inside oe Cast-iron 

Rising-main Water Pipes in Shafts.— Abstract of a Paper 

Read Before the North of England Institute of Mining 

Mechanical Engineers. 

By Mr. R. T. Swallow. 

A vertical range consisting of 118 cast-iron pipes is used as the rising- 
main, or delivery from a two-ram forcing pump of the A. Pitt, Hebburn, 
Colliery. They are each 9 feet long and 12 inches in diameter. The internal 
diameter of the horizontal range of pipes from the forcing pipes to the stand- 
pipe, and of the lowermost pipe in the shaft, being 9 inches ; while those of 
the others in the shaft are 9X inches ; 9^ inches ; 9^ inches ; 10 inches 
and \o}i inches, respectively, increasing toward the surface, the thickness 
of metal varying from lyi inch underground, ^th inch at bank. The 
velocity of the water in the 9-inch pipes is about 203 feet per minute. It 
was found that a large quantity of deposit had accumulated in the pipes, 
and as a large number of their joints had failed, the forcing pumps were 
laid off and the horizontal pipes cleaned in the usual manner. This, how- 
ever, did not have the desired effect. Our attention was then directed to 
the vertical pipes, as it was evident that they had become corroded to such 
an extent as to be unfit for work. At this time a pipe was found to be split 
down the side, and upon its being removed the exact state of the pipe was 
recognized. The water-way was found reduced from nine inches to six and 
one-half inches, and from an area of sixty -three to thirty -three square inches, 
which would have the effect of increasing the speed of the water from 203 
feet to 389 feet per minute. This broken pipe was said to have been tested 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 377 



to a pressure of 715 pounds per square inch before leaving the foundry. It 
is believed that but for the additional pressure arising from diminution of 
the water-way this pipe would have remained intact. The broken cast-iron 
pipe having been replaced by a new pipe, and the idea of employing a small 
winding-engine for the purpose of cleaning the pipes as they stood in posi- 
tion in the shaft, having occurred, they were cleaned in the following 
manner : 

Two small rope sheaves were fixed upon pulley frames to lead the rope 
from the drum of the engine into such a position so as to hang in the center 
of the pipes. At the end of this rope a specially designed cutter was hung, 
and below it a piece of chain, 40 feet in length and weighing 448 lbs., was 
attached to add weight to the cutter. The cutter consisted of a piece of 
horizontal bar-iron fitted with steel springs on each of the sides and each car- 
rying two knives, The first horizontal pipe at the bottom of the shaft hav- 
ing been removed, the cutter and chain were introduced at the top of the 
pipes, through which a current of water was passed from a hose. The cutter 
was then lowered as far as it would go, and then chopped up and down until 
it gradually reached the bottom. This was effected in 19^ hours. The cut- 
ter was then withdrawn and the knives set out to the full diameter required. 
The engine was set away as before, so as to work the cutter up and down 
the full lengths of the pipes, and after running for the further space of two 
hours, the water ceased to indicate the presence of sediment to any great 
degree. Altogether the cutter was iu use 21 y 2 hours. The persons re- 
quired in carrying out this cleaning process were, one at the engine, four 
to watch the work, two at the bank, and two underground. Five tons of 
deposit were removed from the pipes which had been in use but five years. 



THOMAS BOX. 

We select the following extracts from the 5th edition, 1879. 

(37.) Effect of corrosion or rust in pipes. — The rules and tables 
for calculating the discharge of pipes are adapted only to clean and even 
surfaces, such as are commonly met with in new cast-iron pipes. But some 
soft waters contain a great deal of oxygen, which rapidly decomposes iron, 
forming rust, which is deposited not in an even layer but iu nodules or 
carbuncles. 

These retard the flow not so much by the reduction of diameter as by 
the alteration of the character of the surface. A notable case of this kind 
occurred at Torquay, where a main about 14 miles long, composed of 14,267 
yards of 10-inch, 10,085 yards of 9-inch and 170 yards of 8-inch pipe, delivered 
only 317 gallons per minute, with 465 feet head. We may calculate the 
discharge by the method explained in 13 ; * * * equals 595 gallons, 
but by Prony's rule the discharge comes out 616 gallons. The experimen- 
tal discharge was therefore only f^ths, equals '51 or "51 per cent, of the 
theoretical, or, in round numbers, the discharge was that due to ^th of the 
head, so that ^ths of the head was lost in undue friction. An ingenious 
scraper, suggested by the late Mr. Appold, worked by the pressure of 
the water, was passed through the entire length of the pipes ; and, subse- 



378 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



quently an improved one by W. Froude, Esq., was used with remarkable 
results, the discharge being increased to 564 gallons, which is 18 gallons, or 
3 per cent, more than the theoretical quantity. 



CINCINNATI & NEWPORT IRON & PIPE CO. 
What a Prominent Cast-Iron Foundry Admits. 
While the facts pertaining to the imperfections and disad- 
vantages of cast-iron pipe presented in this volume are incon- 
trovertible, admissions of the truth from a cast-iron pipe foundry 
are certainly unlooked for. 

We quote the following from the trade catalogue of the Cin- 
cinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe Company, Newport, Ky. , 
edition of 1885 : 

Sea water corrodes cast-iron, if unprotected, rather more rapidly than 
wrought. Cast-iron cannon taken from vessels sunk in salt water were 
found to have become soft, and in some cases resembled plumbago. 

We copy from General Parley's report of ships Royal George and 
Edgar : The unprotected parts of the sea-gates of the Caledonian canal 
were converted into a soft plumbaginous substance to a depth of three- 
fourths of an inch in four years. 

Some cast-iron water pipes were laid near the Liverpool docks, and at 
the end of twenty years were soft enough to be cut with a knife. 

Fresh water which contains much lime forms deposits and tubercles in 
cast-iron pipes, seriously impeding the flow of water in them. 



GEORGE A. ELLIS. 



An incrustation of a quarter of an inch does not materially affect the 
pressure of a 12-inch pipe discharging 200 gallons per minute, but the 
same depth of incrustation is as likely to form on a 3-inch pipe in the 
same length of time, and would then make a very great difference in the 
pressure maintained or the quantity discharged. * * * 

Attention is again called to the very great increase of loss from friction 
in small pipes over larger ones, discharging equal quantities of water, or 
the same number of gallons per minute, as when called on for fire jets ; 
the loss being approximately 

30 times more for a 6-inch than for a 12-inch main, 
200 times more for a 4-inch than for a 12-inch main, 
800 times more for a 3-inch than for a 12-inch main, 
A ratio of loss that must not be ignored. 



Strength of thick pipes. — The strength of pipes to resist an internal 
pressure is not simply proportional to the thickness of metal. The material 
stretches or extends under a tensile strain, and the result of extension is, 
that the inside metal is more strained than that of the outside, and that 
thick pipes are weaker in proportion to their thickness than thin ones. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 379 



Again, although great care is taken to keep the core central, it is seldom 
perfectly so ; a pipe intended to be one-half inch thick is frequently three- 
eighths at one side and five-eighths at the other, and of course the least 
thickness governs the strength of the pipe. 



J. T. FA.NNING-, C. E. 

In the treatise on Hydraulic and Water Supply Engineering 
edited by J. T. Fanning, under the head of "Flow of Water 
Through Pipes," we copy the following : 

A fair sample of ordinary cast-iron pipe is termed smooth pipe, but a 
good magnifying lens reveals upon its surface innumerable cavities and pro- 
jections. The molecules of water are so minute that many thousands of 
them might be projected against and react from a single one of those in- 
numerable projections, even though it was inappreciable to the touch or 
invisible to the naked eye. A series of continual reactions and deflections, 
originated by the roughness of the pipe, act upon the individual molecules, 
as they are impelled forward by gravity, and materially retard their flow. 

Mr. Fanning then gives certain tables of experimental co- 
efficients of flow of water in cast-iron pipes under pressure, and, 
although his tables are computed by various authorities, they 
mention the condition of cast-iron pipe in each and every case. 
For instance, the experiments by H. Darcy, given in table No. 
52, were made with "Clean" cast-iron pipes; the experiments 
of the same engineer, given in table No. 59, were made with 
"Foul" cast-iron pipe ; the experiments made by Gen. George 
S. Greene, C.E., table No. 60, were made with "Tuberculated" 
cast-iron mains, and the experiment of George H. Bailey, C.E., 
was made upon a Jersey City cast-iron main Other experiments 
by Mr. Bailey were made upon "Old" cast-iron pipes, eight 
years in use. 

The author then goes on to explain the " peculiarities of the 
co-efficient of flow." He writes : 

We have, then, a large range of co-efficients applicable to clean, smooth 
and straight pores in the cast-iron pipes. When the pores are of coarse 
grain, or are slightly tuberculated, the range is still greater, and the values 
of co-efficients of the smaller diameters quite sensibly affected ; and if the 
pores are very rough, or tuberculated, the value of co-efficient for the small 
diameters and low velocities are much augmented. 

Mr. Fanning sums up as follows : 

Effects of Tubercles. — These effects in tuberculated cast-iron pipes, as 
compared with clean pipes, are illustrated in the following approximate 
table, which we have endeavored to adjust to a common velocity of three 



380 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



feet per second for all the diameters. The data for very foul cast-iron pipes 
is, however, scanty, though sufficient to show that the co-efficients do, in 
extreme cases, exceed the limits given Tor the small diameters, and that 
conditions from " Clean " to " Foul " may occur with the several diameters 
that shall cover their range from minimum to maximum co-efficients, and 
calling for a careful exercise of judgment founded upon experience. 

Before cast-iron pipes had been long in use in the early part of the 
present century, in those European towns and cities supplied with salt 
water, it was discovered that tubercular accretions had formed so fairly 
upon their interiors as to seriously diminish the flow of water through the 
cast-iron pipes of 3 inch, 4-inch and 6-inch diameters. The difficulty, which 
was so serious as to necessitate the laying of larger distribution pipes than 
would otherwise have been necessar}', engaged the attention of British and 
Continental engineers and chemists from time to time. Many experimental 
coatings were applied and cast-iron pipes were subjected to baths of hot oil 
under pressure with the hope of fully remedying the difficulty. A commit- 
tee of the British Society also inquired into the matter in connection with 
the subject of the preservation of iron ships, and instituted valuable experi- 
ments, which are described in two reports of Robert Mallet to the society. 
The same effect was experienced in the cast-iron pipes first laid in Philadel- 
phia and New York. In the report of the City Engineer of Boston, January 
18, 1852, mention is made of cast-iron pipes taken at the South Boston Draw 
Bridge, which had been exposed to flow of Cochituate water for nine years. 
He remarks that some of the pipes were covered internally with tubercles 
which measured about two inches in area on the surface by about three- 
fourths of an inch in height, while others had scarcely a lump raised in 
them. Those that were covered with tubercles were corroded to a depth of 
about one-sixteenth of an inch, and the iron to that depth cut with a knife 
very much like plumbago. Mr. Slade, the engineer, expressed the opinion, 
in comparing the condition of these pipes to that of pipes examined in 1852, 
that the corrosion was very energetic at first. 

Page 129. Art. 112. Vegetable Organisms in Water Pipes. — A species 
of confervae has been found growing and multiplying rapidly within water- 
pipes, having taken root in the fine organic sediment deposited * * * 
These microscopic plants, after maturing in abundance are detached by the 
current, decompose, and impart an appreciable amount of odor and taste to 
the water, reduce its transparency and give a slight tinge of color * * * 

We cite these authorities to show, first, that the friction be- 
tween new and presumably clean cast-iron pipe and our lap- 
welded wrought-iron pipe is very much greater in the cast-iron 
mains, and that the friction is constantly increasing as the pipe 
becomes older, and consequently passes through the different 
stages, as mentioned by Fanning: 

From ' ' Clean " to " Old, " 

From " Old " to " Slightly Tuberculated," 

From " Slightly Tuberculated " to " Tuberculated," 

From ' ' Tuberculated " to " Foul. ' ' 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 381 



Mr. Fanning, under the head of "Classification of Cast- 
iron Pipes and their Mean Co-efficients," divides them into three 
main classes for simplicity. He writes, under this head : 

Page 227. Art. 253. Co-efficients of Efflux from Pipes. — We will assume 
the pipe to be one foot in diameter, of clean cast-iron, when the coefficients 
determined experimentally have mean values about as follows : 

In ordinary calculations, the mean coefficient for medium diameters 
aud velocities may be taken for clean cast-iron pipes, as .00644 ; for rough 
or slightly tuberculated cast-iron pipes as .0082, and very rough or very foul 
cast-iron pipes as .012. 

TEAUTWINE. 
In the 1882 edition of the Civil Engineer s Pocket Book, edited 
by John C. Trautwine, C. E., and under the head of " The Flow 
of Water Through Pipes," may be found the following: 

Inasmuch as experiments, on which the following rules are based, were 
made with cast-iron pipes, carefully laid in straight lines and perfectly free 
from all obstructions to the flow of water, some allowance must, in practice, 
be made for this circumstance. Workmen do not lay long lines of pipes in 
perfectly straight lines ; the soil itself, in which the pipes are imbedded, 
especially when in embankments, will settle unequally, especially in streets 
liable to heavy traffic, which not only frequently deranges, but occasionally 
breaks cast-iron water pipes whose tops are three or four feet below the 
surface, and the material used for calking the joints may be carelessly left 
protruding into the interior, and thus cause obstructions, and the water is 
frequently muddy, or is impregnated with certain salts or gases, which form 
deposits, or incrustations, which materially impede the flow of water in cast- 
iron mains. 

Moreover, the pipes themselves are not cast perfectly straight or smooth, 
or of uniform diameter ; and irregular swellings, by producing eddies, retard 
the flow, as well as contractions ; and accumulations of air do the same, 
Under the most favorable circumstances, therefore, it is expedient to make 
the diameters of cast-iron pipes, even for temporary purposes, sufficiently 
large to discharge at least 20 per cent, more than the quantity actually 
needed ; and if there is occasion to anticipate deposits, or incrustations, a 
still larger allowance should be made in permanent pipes, especially in those 
of small diameters, because in them the same thickness of incrustation 
occupies the greater comparative portion of the area. Perhaps it would be 
best to allow an equal increase of say one-half to one aud one-half inch to 
each diameter, whether great or small, inasmuch as the thickness of incrusta- 
tions will be the same for all diameters, or nearly so. 



EDWARD ATKINSON". 

Extracts from the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insur- 
ance Co. Special Circular No. 41. Relating to the flow of water 



382 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



in cast-iron pipes. Prepared by Mr. Edward Atkinson, Presi- 
dent of the company : 

For the purpose of testing the amount of water required in actual prac- 
tice with cast iron pipe that had been in the ground for some years, experi- 
ments were made at various mill yards in Lowell, Mass., last Autumn by 
Col. James Francis, C. E. Agent of the Locks and Canals at Lowell, and 
Vice President C. J. H. Woodbury of this company. The temperature of 
water was 66 degrees in each case. 

The old cast-iron water pipes in some of the mill yards have been found 
obstructed by long continued corrosion, and pipe regarded as ample to fur- 
nish good hydrant streams years ago has been found too small. 

In order that this work might be intelligently laid out and directed Mr. 
F. F. Forbes, engineer of the water works at Brookline, Mass., who had 
for many months been measuring the friction of water in the pipe service in 
the town of Brookline, and whose main attention had been given to public 
water works has been lately engaged in the conduct of experiments upon 
friction on the existing system. His results so fully sustain the deductions 
from the work which has been done under our own supervision as well as 
those derived from the experiments of Messrs. R. D. Wood & Company 
(manufacturers of cast-iron water pipe) as to make it expedient to add them 
to this circular. By consent of the Selectmen of Brookline I am permitted 
to do so. 

The following tables give in column 5 the amount of head in feet actu- 
ally required to overcome the friction of the water at the different velocities 
given in column 3 in the force mains of the Brookline water works. Column 
6 shows the amount of head which would be required for the same purpose 
if the main was a new, smooth pipe. 

By a comparison of these two columns the fact is at once emphasized 
that cast-iron pipes should be put in not only large enough for present use, 
but also large enough to allow for the decreasing efficiency of future years 
caused by corrosion. The experiments show that after the lapse of several 
years it may require upwards of fifty per cent, more power to force the 
water through the mains. 



Diam of force 










Frictional 

head as 

calculated 


main from 
Eng. house 
to Stand- 


Length of 


Velocity 


Gallons per 24 


Actual Fric. 


Main. 


per Second. 


Hours. 


Head. 


by 


Pipe. 










tanning's 










Formula. 


16-in. 


2,900 


I-I5 


1,043,820 


IO.42 


7.12 


16-in. 


2,900 


1.40 


1,264,205 


16.71 


IO.92 


16-in. 


2,900 


1.70 


1,532,045 


24.30 


1459 


16-in. 


2,900 


1.97 


1,773,457 


33o 5 


20.89 


16-in. 


I3.350 


LIS 


1,043,820 


6.13 


4-79 


16-in. 


13.350 


I.40 


1,264,205 


9-52 


7.01 


16-in. 


I3.350 


I.70 


1,532,045 


I3-50 


10.18 


16-in. 


I3.350 


I.97 


1,773,457 


19.22 


13-53 



The tests which were begun by Col. Francis may be continued at a 
future date, and it may then become expedient to print a scientific statement 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 383 



of all the results. For the immediate purpose of emphasizing the necessity 
of laying down larger cast-iron pipes, this circular may suffice. In it the 
writer has endeavored to put the mysteries of mathematics of the engineer 
into very plain terms. 

Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) Edward Atkinson, President. 

Boston, Feb. 9, 1892. 

From the above tables it will be noticed that the loss in 
head occasioned by corrosion of the cast-iron water pipe (they 
call it friction in the tables, but in the written portion of the 
circular it is designated "long continued corrosion," a "de- 
creasing efficiency caused by corrosion " ) is, viz. : 

1 st table 3-20$ 5. 79^ 9. 71^ and 12.16$ 

2d table i-34# 2.51$ 3.32$ and 5.69$ 

also, that after the lapse of several years it may require upwards 
of fifty per cent, more power to force the water through the 
mains. Thus proving what has so often been demonstrated 
that the so-called life of a cast-iron water pipe depends entirely 
upon the length of time it is capable of delivering the quantity 
of water for which its internal diameter is calculated, before 
corrosion has set in. 

TRAVERS DANIEL, C. E. 

National Tube Works Co. 

Columbia, Tenn., February 16, 1885. 

Yours of the 12th inst., giving the extraordinary condition of affairs at 
the Allegheny (Pa.) water works, has interested me greatly, and, while the 
narrative almost surpasses belief, I do not doubt the literal truth of the fact 
stated, from my own observations in other cities, that there is no remedy 
when tuberculation commences in cast-iron pipes but to dig them up and 
replace them with new pipes. After tubercles form and break they are no 
longer fit to convey potable waters (and the word ' ' potable ' ' can, without fair 
challenge, be changed to "poisonous "). Indeed, there seems to be some chem- 
cal affinity in the tuberculous matter, or attraction, that causes organic mat- 
ter before in suspension to be deposited in the cast-iron pipes, and these de- 
posits and aggregations around the tubercles are so very nasty ( that is the 
best word that I can find) and foul smelling when disturbed, that ordinary 
words can hardly convey the full measure of intensity to those who have not 
seen and sampled its bouquet. Some kind of waters attack cast-iron 
pipes with greater vigor than others, and the only pipe I have yet seen that 
I think can safely defy tubercles is the wrought-iron Kalamein pipe made by 
you ; that I feel sure will stand anywhere. 

To prove what I have said about tuberculated cast-iron pipes, take one 
up and heat it to a dull red heat, then jar it with a hammer, when its unfit- 
ness for further service will be fully demonstrated. 

(Signed) Travers Daniel. 



384 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



JAMBS DUANB. 

At the meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 
February i, the second paper was by James Duane, on 

The Effect of Tubercueation on the Deeivery of a 
48-inch Main. 

In 1880-S1 the writer laid a 48-inch main in 10th Avenue and 85th 
Street, New York, for the purpose of diverting a part of the flow of the 
aqueduct into the old receiving reservoir in Central Park. This line started 
from 93d vStreet, and ended at the gate-house in 85th Street, near Sth Avenue. 
In 1871-74, the old aqueduct in 10th Avenue, between 93d and 113th Streets, 
was replaced with six lines of 48-inch pipe. These mains were all laid true to 
grade, and with 50 feet radius. * * " x " The writer, in making connection 
of the line laid in 1881, with one of the old mains at 93d Street, found the 
latter to be tuberculated to a surprising extent. These tubercles were all 
of the same general shape — that of roughly-formed frustra of cones, with a 
diameter of base of two or three times their height. The largest, which 
were two to three inches in diameter and one inch high, were, as a rule, 
found near the bottom of the pipe, but the interior was nearly covered by 
them. Bench marks were established on the cover of each manhole, and 
joined carefully by levels, so that direct measurements could be made to 
the surface of the water, and thus establish its level above datum. * * * 
The observed loss of head in a length of 5,992 feet was 3.39 feet, giving " C " 
the remarkably low value of 96, or about 30 per cent, less than that assigned 
to it in modern practice. 

After connections were made between the most westerly of the old pipe 
and the new pipe laid in 1S81, there was a continuous line of 48-inch pipe, 
of which 5,306 feet were tuberculated and 4,123 feet were clean. The 
observed loss of head in the first ( old) was 1.88 feet, and in the second (new) 
0.74 feet ; in other words, the value of the first was .00035 against .00018 in 
the second, or about double. * * * The conclusions are, that Croton 
water will cause bad tuberculation in seven years, and that a loss of 30 per 
cent, in discharging capacity is occasioned. — Engineering News, New York, 
February 2, 1893. * * * 



TUBERCUEATION OF WATER MAINS. 

Tuberculation of water mains has been repeatedly discussed before 
engineering societies and in technical papers, but accurate measurements 
of the effect of tuberculation on the delivery of mains have not been 
described very often ; if, indeed, more than a few such examinations have 
been made. 

Results of measurements made on a 48-inch (cast-iron) main in New 
York City were described last year before the American Society of Civil 
Engineers by James Duane, and his paper, with the discussion on it, forms 
a valuable contribution to the literature of hydraulic engineering. 

The (48-inch) mains were laid in 1871-1874 to true line and grade on 
good foundations ; the bends were accurately formed to curves of 50 feet 
radius, and the junctions of the ends of the pipe lines with the masonry 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 385 



structures were formed by converging mouth pieces. In short, it is said 
that the requirements of the best engineering practice in pipe-laying were 
complied with. * * * 

Seven years later it was observed in making some connections that the 
interior surface of one of the mains was so badly tuberculated that it was 
decided to make an examination of the loss of head due to this cause. 

All the tubercles were of the same general shape, roughly formed frusta 
of cones with bases two or three times their altitude, looking not unlike 
the mud-wasps' nests seen in the angles of old country buildings. As a 
general statement the largest of these tubercles occurred on the bottom of 
the pipe, and decreased in size with some show of uniformity until they 
attained a minimum at the top. They studded the interior surface at 
intervals, nearly covering the pipe. The largest were two or three inches 
in diameter at their base and one inch high, while the smallest were about 
one-fourth of the size. 

The amount of water flowing through the aqueduct proper, from 
which the 4S-inch mains were supplied, has been determined with consid- 
erable accuracy, and Mr. Duane states that the amount of water delivered 
into the 48-inch main which was examined amounted very nearly to 
18,500,000 gallons a day. Using the amount, the co-efficient in the formula 
is found to be 96, with an observed loss of head of 3.39 feet in a length of 
5,792 feet. This is about thirty per cent, less than the value assigned in 
ordinary practice. A comparison of the loss of head in a tuberculated pipe 
with that in a clean one was made on a 48-inch main 9,429 feet long, of 
which 5,306 feet were covered with the tubercles. The observed loss of 
head was 1.86 feet. With the data thus obtained the flow through this 
section would be about 14,500,000 gallons a day. Using this discharge, 
the value for this new main is found to be 134, which accords well with 
the value generally accepted. Examinations on other mains, both coated 
and uncoated, have led Mr. Duane to draw the following conclusions : 

A main conveying water of the general chemical composition of the 
Croton will become badty tuberculated in seven years, and probably less. 
In a 4S-inch main the discharging capacity is reduced about 30 per cent. 
The pipes were laid on good foundations, and a sewer built below for most 
of the distance. If there had been much leakage the sewers would probably 
have intercepted some of it, but frequent measurements showed that the 
flow was always only the regular normal amount. 

The discussion brought out by the paper and contributed later after its 
publication is a very interesting one. 

Mr. William Barclay Parsons said that the loss of flow is not due to the 
diminished diameter of the pipes, but to the eddies that are formed by the 
particles of water impinging against the projections, and thus being deflected 
into the main stream and disturbing the even, direct flow of other particles 
at a considerable distance from the sides. This tendency to eddy is far 
greater than one would suppose, unless attention had been called to it by 
actual experience. * * * It does frequently happen that an engineer is 
called upon to deal with lines of old pipe, and then, unless he bears in mind 
the effect of tuberculatiou, he will be seriously disappointed in delivery. 
As a case in point, he was recently called in to extend a small water works 
system, built but a few years previous. The force main was a three-inch 



386 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 

pipe. He found that the frictional resistance, as shown by the pressure 
gauge on the pump, was 41 pounds, while, according to the formula for 
clean pipes, it should have been 14 pounds. The loss due to tuberculation 
was, therefore, 27 pounds, or nearly 200 per cent, of that due to ordinary 
condition. 

He had an opportunity some few years ago to examine a cast-iron main, 
and the coating inside of it was apparently perfect. The coating was smooth, 
clean and unbroken, and the pipe has seen continuous service. 

In response to a query as to the cause of tuberculation, Mr. Brush said 
that he believed it to be a deposit from the water. The rusting forms a 
nucleus, and then the deposit forms around it. " :< " * * The sediment in 
the water, as soon as the rust commences, begins to form around the rusty 
places, and it is surprising how soon a pipe will close entirely. 

Mr. William R. Hutton said that tubercles are formed almost entirely 
by chemical action, although in some of the European water pipes calcareous 
tubercles are found. The effect of tubercles in diminishing the discharge 
is owing not so much to the reduction in the size of the pipe as to resistance 
of flow caused by the roughening of the surface, and the percentage of loss 
will vary with the degree of roughness. Darcy's experiments upon the pipes 
of Paris and Dijon led him to conclude that, in a general way, the loss is 
about 33 per cent. 

Mr. L. L. Tribus said that he had had an opportunity for observing this 
tuberculation during the recent removal. These tubercles were in appear- 
ance, as Mr. Duane described, from one-half to three-quarter inch in diameter 
at their bases, from one-quarter to one-half inch in height, and shaped 
like a hollow cone, or mud wasp nest. Detach the tubercles and a pitted 
condition of the iron underneath clearly shows a chemical action rather than 
a sedimentary deposit from the w T ater. 

Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald said that the subject of a proper lining for a 
cast-iron main is a most important one, when we consider the mileage of 
cast-iron pipes in use for various purposes. It is well known that as far as 
the water supply question is concerned, there is a vast deal of difference in 
the action of different waters in producing tuberculation. Some waters have 
practically no effect on cast-iron pipe, whether it be coated or uncoated. 
The Boston water, which is very similar to the Croton, has a decided effect 
on cast-iron pipe, although, happily, the tubercles, after a certain lapse of 
time, do not increase, as stated in the second proposition at the end of Mr. 
Duane's paper. The third and fourth propositions should, he said, be 
received with caution, if not suspicion. Certainly such propositions cannot 
apply to the Boston water. He has found tubercles in a tar coated pipe at 
the end of one year after laying. Sometimes, after removing a tubercle 
which is just beginning to grow, the lining will be found to be intact under- 
neath, as far as the eye can see ; probably some microscopical hole may exist. 

Mr. Dexter Bracket said that all of the pipes laid in Boston from 1848 to 
1868 with the exception of a few hundred feet were uncoated, and the entire 
inner surface of these pipes is covered with tubercles from one-fourth to 
one inch in thickness. As early as 1852, only four years after the completion 
of the works, the late Mr. E. S. Chesbrough, M. Am. Soc. C. E. , then city 
engineer, reported that " All the large pipes that have been examined have 
been partially or entirely covered on their inner surfaces, some with detached 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 



387 



tubercles, varying from one-half to two and one-half inches base, with a 
depth of thickness in the middle of from one-fourth to three-fourths inch ; 
and some entirely to an average depth of one-half inch with a rough coating 
as if the tubercles had crowded together." * * * 

In 1866, Mr. Bracket made some experiments to determine the effect 
upon the discharging capacity of 4 and 6 inch pipes of removing the growth 
of tubercles by means of a mechanical scraper. The discharge of the pipes, 
both before and after cleaning was measured by means of a Deacon meter. 
The friction head was determined from readings of Bourdon gauges attached 
to the fire hydrants. Very great accuracy was aimed at in these experi- 
ments, and they are given to show, in a general way, the great loss in dis- 
charging capacity, caused by the coating of tubercles. The accompanying 
tables show the results of the experiments : 

Tubercueated Pipe, Length 525 Feet — Original Diameter 6 Inches. 



Observed Head, 
Feet per 1,000 


Velocity, Feet 
per Second. 


Observed Dis- 
charge. Gallons 
per Minute. 


Calculated Discharge of 

Clean Cast-iron Pipe 

Under Same Head, 

Darcy's Formula. 


I.30 


O.38 


33-3 


I20. 


2.50 


0.57 


50.O 


165 




6.90 


0.95 


83-3 


275 




14 40 


'■13 


IOO. O 


395 




19.20 


1.32 


116. 6 


455 




25.40 


i-5i 


133-3 


525 




33 80 


1 .70 


150.0 


600 





The Same Pipe After Cleaning. 



Observed Head, 
Feet per 1.000 


Velocity, Feet 
per Minute. 


Observed Dis- 
charge, Gallons 
per Minute. 


Calculated Discharge of 

Clean Cast-iron Pipe 

Under Same Head, 

Darcy's Formula. 


2.70 


O.76 


66.6 


170. 


I.50 


0.95 


83-3 


125- 


2.50 


1-13 


100.0 


125. 


3.80 


1 .51 


133-3 


205. 


4.20 


1 .70 


150.0 


215- 


6.50 


2.08 


183.3 


265. 


9.40 


2.46 


216.6 


320. 



TUBERCULATED PIPE, LENGTH 890 FEET— ORIGINAL DIAMETER 4 INCHES. 



Observed Head, 
Feet per i,ooo. 


, f , •. t?„„» Observed Dis- 

per Second ^^ Gallons 
per becona. per Minute 


Calculated discharge of 

Clean Cast-iron Pipe 

Under Same Head. 

Darcy's Formula. 


22.9 

33 5 
36.1 
50.1 


0.47 
O.81 
1.66 
I.23 


18.3 
31-7 
41.7 

48.3 


*75- 
211. 

2r8. 
258. 



388 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



It will be noticed that the discharge of the six-inch tuberculated pipe 
was from 25 to 35 per cent, of the quantity which a clean coated cast-iron 
pipe might be expected to deliver under the same head, and that the dis- 
charging capacity of the pipe was more than doubled by the removal of the 
tubercles. The four-inch pipes show an even greater resistance to flow, and 
a head of 25 feet was required to deliver the same quantity of water that a 
clean pipe would deliver under one foot head. By means of the scrapers 
above mentioned the tubercles were removed from 58,000 feet of six-inch 
pipe at a cost of 14 cents per foot, and from 20,300 feet of 12-inch pipe at a 
cost of 20 6-10 cents per foot. 

His observations of the coated cast-iron pipes, in connection with the 
works in Boston and other cities in Massachusetts, lead him to question 
Mr. Duane's conclusions, that "A properly applied tar coating is an absolute 
protection against tuberculation." Coated pipes in this vicinity are gen- 
erally pitted to a greater or less extent with tubercles. The first coated 
pipes used in Boston were of Scotch manufacture, and a few hundred feet 
were laid to determine the value of Dr. Angus Smith's coating, in 1866. 
After eight years' use, this pipe was reported "to be as free from rust as 
when first laid." But on a second examination, in 1873, it was found that 
tubercles had formed "about half the size of an English walnut and very 
evenly distributed, averaging about 20 to the foot." — Engineering Record, 
Augusts, 1893. 



EDWARD M. EATON, C. E. 

In a paper on the Sheffield, England, water works, read a 
short time ago before the British Institute of Mechanical En- 
gineers, Edward M. Eaton, the chief engineer of the works, 
stated that he had been troubled by the formation, on the inte- 
rior of the pipes, with tubercles, the origin of which was obscure. 



CHARLES KING, C. E. 

Writing to Engineering on this subject, Charles King, of 
Winterthur, Switzerland, says : 

Speaking before the Institute of German Engineers in Berlin, Herr 
Oesten, the chief engineer of the water works of that city, referred to the 
same matter, and put forth the following theory in explanation of the same : 
" The knotty substances are built up in layers, and in every case the outer- 
most layer is the hardest and strongest, while those toward the inside are 
much softer, and the interior is generally filled with a pasty mass. By tak- 
ing up oxygen from the water the inside skin of the pipe increases in volume 
and forms into buckles in order to make room for the increased area, and 
the outer layer is that which is most highly oxidized. This layer takes up, 
then, primarily, the oxygen, but because behind it there are layers not so 
fully oxidized, the latter again extract the oxygen from the former, so that 
the oxygen gradually travels from the outside to the inside of the tubercles. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 389 



For this reason the outer layer is compelled to remain at a lower grade of 
oxidization than those on the inside, and so it comes to pass that the rust on 
a fresh cut-out piece of pipe has always on the exterior a brackish and never 
a red-brown color, which latter, however, it assumes after exposure to the 
atmosphere when the process of oxidization completes itself." 



JAMES H. HARLOW. 

We herewith reproduce portions of an interesting paper, en- 
titled, " A Specimen of Cast-Iron Pipe," which was read by Mr. 
James H. Harlow, at the October 21st, 1884, meeting of the 
Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania : 

My attention was first directed to the sample of pipe before you by my 
friend, Mr. H. C. Dickinson, member of this society. The sample shown is 
from Fall River, Mass., and was laid in 1875, and at the time it was taken up 
had been in use eight years. 

HISTORY. 

The water works of Fall River, Mass., were built in 187 1-5, and take 
water from Watuppa Take. This lake covers a surface of about five and one- 
half square miles. 

Professor J. H. Appleton in his report on the water of the lake, says, 
that a careful analysis of a sample of the water from North Watuppa Pond 
showed but 1.80 grains of solid matter per gallon, and that the purity of the 
water, its freedom from objectionable salts, and remarkable softness, render 
it eminently suitable for the various purposes of a water supply. 

The chief engineer of the work was George A. Briggs, with William 
Rotch, as assistant engineer, and James P. Kirkwood as consulting engineer. 
The sample here exhibited was a part of an order filled by the Warren 
Foundry and Machine Compaq', Phillipsburg, N. J., and consisted of about 
800 pieces of six inch, Class D pipe, five-eighths inch, having an average 
weight of 514 pounds each. 

The following extracts from the specifications are given to show the 
quality of pipe the engineer intended to have : 

QUALITY OF METAL. 

The metal shall be strong, tough and close-grained, with the carbon combined and not 
in the form of graphite, and as hard as the case will admit, but not too hard to be readily 
cut and drilled, and shall be remelted from pigs of gray iron in a cupola or air furnace, 
without any admixture of cinder iron or other inferior metal, and shall have a tensile 
strength of at least 16,000 pounds per square inch. 

DEFECTS AND FORMS OF CASTINGS. 

The pipes shall be free from scoria, sand-holes, air bubbles, cold-short cracks and all 
other defects or imperfections ; they shall be truly cylindrical in the bore, straight in the 
axis of the straight pipes ; and true to the required curvature or form in the axis of the 
other pipes ; they shall be internally of the full specified diameter and shall have their 
inner and outer surfaces concentric, so as to make the thickness of the shell uniform 
throughout. 

The castiugs must be smooth and true, and shall be perfectly cleaned from earth, 
sand or dust, which adheres to the iron in the moulds. No lumps or rough places shall be 
left on the inside of the pipes or sockets, nor on the outer surface of the spigot ends. No 
plugging or filling will be allowed. 



390 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The defective piece was discovered by the pressure bursting the pipe 
and causing a leak. 

On uncovering the pipe it was found that six lengths, or seventy-two 
feet, were in the same condition as the sample. The six lengths were con- 
tinuous, and at each end the pipe was still in good condition. The material 
through which these six lengths were laid was rolling-mill cinder, a sample 
of which is shown. You will notice that the inside coating of the pipe is 
still bright, except at one place, which was probably the underside, and on 
which a little sediment has settled, and also shows a spot of rust. The out- 
side coating is still on the pipe, but not in so perfect condition. 




Section of Cast-iron Water Pipe from Fall River. Diameter, 6 Ins. 
IN USE 8 YEARS; 1875 TO 1883. 

The Shaded Portion Represents Iron ; The Heavy Shaded Portion Represents Oxide : 
The White Portion Represents Silicate and Graphite. 



The inner part is still cast-iron, and appears to be of good quality. 
The outer line of the iron is very irregular, and at one point reaches nearly 
to the outside. Along the outside edge of the iron is a streak of red oxide, 
and beyond this is the silicated oxide of iron. I make the specific gravity 
of the sample 4358. The sample contains 20.45 cubic inches. The weight 
is 3.25 pounds. The weight should be 5.33 pounds. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 391 



A sample has been submitted to Messrs. Hunt & Clapp, chemists, and 
they have given me the following reports : 

Analyses. 

Pittsburg, Pa , Oct. 20, 1884. 
Analysis of water pipe. Sample marked " Cuttings Through Pipe." Received from 
James H. Harlow, Pittsburg, Pa. Received at Laboratory, September 26, 1884. Remarks : 
Pipe laid at Fall River, Mass. 

Silicious Residue 14 .63 

Oxides of Iron : 76.84 



Alumnia , 



7 

Moisture o 

Sulphate of Liine o 

Sulphate of Magnesia o 



99 
[Note. — Specific gravity, 4358.] 

Pittsburg, Pa., Oct 20, 1884. 
Analysis of water pipe. Sample marked "Outer Surface of Pipe." Received from 

James H. Harlow, Pittsburg, Pa. Received at Laboratory, September 26, 1884. Remarks : 

Pipe laid at Fall River, Mass. 

Silicious Residue 25 . 18 

Oxides of Iron 63 70 

Alumnia 9.70 

Moisture 0.49 

Sulphate of Lime 0.19 

Sulphate of Magnesia 0.10 

99 -3 6 
[Note. — Specific gravity, 4358.] 

This has been brought to your notice, in order that we might, by dis- 
cussion, learn something as to the cause of the change in the iron, and 
possibly prevent similar accident in the future. 

For information given in relation to this sample, I desire to thank Mr. 
H. C. Dickinson for calling my attention to the subject, Mr. William B. 
Durfee, Jr., Superintendent of the Fall River Gas Works, for information in 
relation to its history, and Messrs. Hunt & Clapp for the chemical analyses. 

Discussion. 
After Mr. Harlow had given the history of the piece of pipe 
which was handed around for inspection, the following dis- 
cussion took place: 

Mr. Hunt : I can hardly say much more than what the analyses show, 
other than this, that from the analysis I am quite confident that the outer 
coating is not the slag that would go with iron in its casting. It is not 
either a form of lime, or of the bedding which would have been around the 
iron, or could have accidentally gotten with it in casting. 

Again, all the circumstances of the case, after the careful testing the 
material had, would seem to indicate as well that this outer coating is some- 
thing foreign — or something not contained with the material when it was 
made into the pipe. 

It seems to me, but I only put this out as a supposition, that the 
material shows what in mineralogy is called a metamorphosis of the material. 
The iron is oxydized, made oxide of iron, due to the laying in the cinder 



392 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



bank and being covered with the salt water. And the oxide of iron was 
afterwards changed, metamorphosed with the clay, forming silicious clay. 
That the pipe now is of regular form, first of metallic iron, then of the 
oxide of iron that encrusted it, and is now a metamorphosed material, a 
changed material from the oxide of iron to silicated clay. 

That is only a supposition, and the only remark I wish to make on 
the subject is to state that that is my idea of the change, and what is the 
cause of it. 

Mr. Phillips : Was any carbon found in that residue at all ? 

Mr. Hunt: Carbon? We did not test the metallic iron for carbon, 
but there was none in the material as we took it. The material, as we took 
it for analysis, could be easily whittled — was easily whittled, and could 
easily be pulverized between the hands, and there was no carbon. The 
carbon must have been entirely taken out of it. The loss on ignition was 
only .47 of one per cent. The material has a brown color, as it looks on 
the surface of the pipe, and is that way when in powder, but when ignited 
turns to a black color and looks like the magnetic oxide of iron. 

The black portion of the material is magnetic. I think they are small 
particles of regular metallic iron. One other point, I do not hardly dare to 
mention, is that this is metallic aluminum. The specific gravity would 
indicate that there was something in that line. I would rather ask for 
further information before I would say positively there was metallic alumi- 
num there, but there is certainly about nine per cent, of the oxide of 
aluminum, and perhaps some of the oxide is in a metallic state. 

Mr. Lowry : Did I understand it to be said that the pipe was buried 
where salt water, the tide, could reach it ? 

Mr. Harlow : Yes, sir ; about seventy -two feet of this pipe was so 
exposed ; but this entire section was affected like the sample. 

Mr. Lowry : Miles and miles of cast-iron pipe in the Jersey City 
water works system have been destroyed by the action of salt water. The 
water was absorbed by the earth. Miles had to be taken up and replaced 
with other pipe ; some, where salt water never reached, but was absorbed by 
the earth and so carried. 



JOHN R. FREEMAN. 

Extract from a paper read by John R. Freeman, C. E., be- 
fore the New England Water Works Association (see Fire and 
Water of August 20th, 1892) on "The Arrangement of Hydrants 
and Water Pipes for the Protection of a City against Fire." 

It should be clearly understood that starting with, say, seventy-five 
pounds, a line of four-inch cast-iron pipe one-half mile long, so soon as it 
becomes old and roughened by rust, can only deliver water enough for a 
single 100 gallon fire stream 3^-inch in diameter, which is too small to ex- 
tinguish anything more than a dwelling-house fire, or often can do no more 
than protect the neighbors while the original fire is left to burn itself out. 
In patching up an old water pipe system to make it serve the modern re- 
quirements, the old four-inch cast-iron pipe can often be allowed to remain 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 393 



by feeding it at both ends, or at frequent intervals by a large cross section. 
* * * A quarter-inch thickness of deposit gathers just as quickly in a 
four-inch cast-iron pipe as it does in a six-inch cast-iron pipe, and the de- 
posit reduces the water carrying capacity in a far greater proportion on the 
four-inch than on the six-inch pipe. Within a crowded and valuable metro- 
politan district, a cast-iron pipe of a diameter of 8 inches is perhaps the 
smallest that can be recommended for the general net-work (or "gridiron " ) 
of intersecting pipes, having in view the deterioration in water carrying 
capacity, which occurs in time in cast-iron pipes with nearly all waters. 



INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 

Corrosion and Furring up of Mains.— Means and Apparatus for 
Removing Accumulations.— Abstracts from Minutes of Pro- 
ceedings of Institute of Civil Engineers. —Vol. XVII. 
The nature of the water with reference to its powers of causing oxidation, 
incrustation, or otherwise injuriously affecting the mains, is a subject of 
great importance. It appears from chemical analysis that the slightly alka- 
line and aerated waters are most fatal to cast-iron, and that which is known 
as the grey cast-iron is most easily acted upon by them. 

Oxidation, once having set in, goes on with great rapidity, commencing 
with tubercular formations on the surface, consisting chiefly of oxide of 
iron, often with extraneous matters of organic character. These tubercules 
break out, as it were, closer and closer to each other, and ultimately combine 
to form a thick coating over the surface of the pipe, which not only discolors 
the water but impedes its passage through the pipes, and seriously diminishes 
their deliver}'. * * * The effect of some waters upon cast-iron pipes is 
to soften them to such an extent that they may be easily cut with a knife. 

At Whitehaven ( Mr. Rawlinson says :) the water acted on the cast-iron 
pipes, and in a very few years those of smaller diameters were all tubercu- 
lated, corroded, crusted up, and filled with oxidized matter. 

Soft water is excessively destructive to pipes. Conglomerated masses of 
peat and oxide are formed frequently at the joints. * * * In hard water 
the lime is often as great an impediment in the form of deposit, but it has 
not the destructive action on the iron, for it often happens that a coating of 
carbonate, or sulphate of lime and magnesia is formed on the inside of the 
pipe before there has been sufficient time to allow of it being seriously 
affected by rust. 

But the remedy, if such it can be called, is as bad as the disease, since 
it diminishes the diameter of the pipe, and continues to accumulate around 
its sides. 

With very soft and alkaline waters, as much as half an inch in diameter 
is often allowed for oxidation. In Yorkshire the diameters of the pipes are 
materially diminished with great rapidity. The waters of Bath — a deposit 
was found in the mains of that city — have all the consistency of limestone, 
leaving in some sections, as shown by section b. and c, Fig. 166, openings 
of only i% inch diameter in what was once a 6-inch pipe. The diagram 
a. has a somewhat larger opening, being about 2% inches in width, by i^ 



394 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



inches in height. Fig. 167 is taken froni a photograph of which a, Fig. 166, 
is a reduction. The waters do not contain anything that is actually un- 
wholesome. 

A very great deal in the 
prevention of oxidation 
depends upon the quality 
of the iron. According 
to the experiments of Mr. 
Mallet, iron of inferior 
quality may be converted 
into plumbago if exposed fig. iss. 

to the action of foul, or 

sea water. Fifty years ago it was discovered that this effect could be pro- 
duced by soaking irou in acidulated water. To avoid oxidation of any kind 
as far as possible, the metal should be selected uniformly homogeneous in its 
surface. Impure, soft foundry iron rapidly corrodes. Various expedients 





have been tried from time to time with a view of preventing the corrosive or 
otherwise injurious effects of water upon the metal of pipes. A coating of 
Portland cement has been tried with no lasting success, the oxidation taking 
place either from the moisture of the cement or from the water penetrating 
behind and peeling it off, thus leaving the surface exposed to its deleterious 
action. The water coming from coal seams is frequently charged with free 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 395 



sulphuric acid, the result of the oxidation of pyrites. To protect the pipes 
which bring the water to the surface of the mine Koenigsgruhe from corro- 
sion they were coated as follows : They were first for three hours exposed 
in a bath of hydrochloric acid, then brushed with water ; they afterward 
received a coating consisting of 34 parts of silica, 15 of borax, and 2 of soda, 
and were then exposed for ten minutes in a retort to a dull red heat ; after 
this another coat was put over the inner surface, and the pipes exposed to a 
white heat for twenty minutes. An enamel was thus formed, uniting well 
with the iron. This second coating was formed of 34 parts of feldspar, 19 of 
silica, 24 of borax, 16 of oxide of tin, 4 of fluorspar, 9 of soda, and 3 of salt- 
peter, melted to a mass in a crucible, and ground to a fine paste with a little 
water. Before the pipes were quite cool, the outside coat was painted with 
coal-tar. 

The pipes which were laid down at Tourquay, appear to have undergone 
most rapidly the action of oxidation, thus reducing very considerably the 
supply ; but after having undergone the process of scraping by means of a 
machine the delivery was increased fifty-six per cent., and by yearly scrap- 
ings has been doubled, but after such scrapings it declines rapidly ten per 
cent. , and in a year 25 per cent. * * * 

In 1871, Mr. Mackinson, the manager of the Dundee Water Works, 
cleaned out no less than 31,551 feet of pipe. They were so corroded that in 
many places it was impossible even to see through them, and in most cases 
there was not sufficient space left to insert the forefinger. Pipes laid down 
of the proper capacity became utterly inadequate in their supply, and in case 
of fire the pressure was found to be quite inefficient. To remed}^ these in- 
creasing evils, Mr. Mackinson suggested cleaning and scraping the pipes. 
The whole six miles of the operation was achieved at a cost of $645. 

A great difficulty was experienced by incrustation in the pipe of the old 
Dublin water works (which were all coated inside). Calcareous deposit, 
composed of lime, earth and oxide of iron frequently reduced the bore of 
the pipes to one-third of their original size. No thickness of pipe is a guar- 
antee of its security if its material is liable to be changed by chemical action 
to a nature unable to resist the pressure required. In some cases the tuber- 
cles of rust have been found to be larger and closer together where the pipe 
has been under pressure. 

A good cast-iron pipe should be straight, true in cross-section, square on 
the ends and in the sockets, and the metal of equal thickness all around, 
with a smooth surface and free from air bubbles, scoria or core nails. A 
careful examination of the sockets of pipe is needed to detect honeycomb, 
for after the main is laid and jointed, serious leakages may occur through 
honeycombed sockets. The factor of safety assumed by Professor Rankine 
for cast-iron water pipes is, that the bursting pressure shall be five times the 
greatest working pressure. 



JERSEY" CITY, NEW JERSEY. 
Another great job is being undertaken at the expense of 
the tax-payers of Jersey City by the Board of Public Works, 
The Committee on Pumping and Reservoirs advertised for pro- 



396 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



posals for building a 36-inch conduit from a point near the west 
bank of the Hackensack River to the receiving reservoir at 
Belleville, a distance of 22,300 feet, traversing the swamp known 
as the Hackensack Meadows. At the meeting of the Board of 
Public Works, the committee reported in favor of the adoption 
of an iron and cement pipe, and recommended that the contract 
be awarded to the American Water and Gas Pipe Company. 

After a brief discussion the Board confirmed the report of 
the committee, and awarded the contract for $363,303. This bid 
was lower than that of the cast-iron pipe company by $130,000. 

The committee in their report set forth the following reasons 
for their recommendation, in addition to the comparative cheap- 
ness of the iron and cememt pipe: 

The action of Passaic water on cast-iron, as shown in existing conduits 
and distribution pipes, develops the formation of accretions, sometimes des- 
ignated tubercles. These in their early stage are small in size and hemis- 
pherical in shape. The}' are covered with a thin scale, and filled with a 
substance resembling black mould, slightly moist and of an offensive odor. 
They appear to increase rapidly in bulk and numbers, until the entire inner 
surface of the pipe is covered with them. Their growth not only diminishes 
the diameter of the pipe, but affects its stability, as they destroy the metal 
beneath them, changing its characteristics and tending to render it unequal 
to the strain of even light hydraulic pressures. They also taint the water, 
imparting to it a discernible flavor. The oxidation of the outer surface of 
cast-iron pipes reduces its strength, and experience teaches that coal tar var- 
nish, as applied to cast-iron, while a protection, is not a certain preventive 
against rust, as cast-iron pipes constantly deteriorate. 



That "Moss-Covered" Cast-Iron Water Pipe. 

There is a serious condition of affairs at the Belleville, (N. J.) pumping 
station and the High Service reservoirs at Jersey City. The street and water 
commissioners fear a water famine. The pending difficulty is attributed 
to the failure of the old mains across the Hackensack meadows to conduct 
a sufficient supply of water. The oldest main has a fall of thirty feet from 
Belleville to High Service, but the inside of the pipes are so thickly covered 
with moss that the carrying capacity of the pipe is diminished fully one- 
half. The street and water commissioners on Monday ordered the flood- 
gates at High Service shut halfway down, but an investigation showed that 
the supply in the reservoirs had not gained a quarter of an inch. 

Tuesday morning Acting Mayor Simpson, Financial Commissioners 
Detwiller and Hilyer, accompanied by Chief Engineer De Varuna, of 
Brooklyn, and Engineer Ruggles, of Jersey City, inspected the water works 
and mains for the purpose of devising some means to prevent the famine. 
It is highly probable that the officials will take advantage of an act of the 
last Legislature authorizing the construction of a new main across the 
Hackensack meadows, not to cost more than $600,000. — Fire and Water, 
August 1 2th, /8gj. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 397 



BAYONWE, NEW JERSEY. 

In November next the contract of Baj-onne with Jersey City to supply 
this city with the foul fluid, expires, after which we trust our citizens will 
have an abundant supply of pure water. In the meantime we advise all our 
citizens to drink very sparingly of the present contaminated water — indeed, 
to avoid its use altogether for drinking or culinary purposes wherever it is 
possible to do so. That it is polluted and its use dangerous to the public 
health is indisputable. 

The history of the Jersey City, N. J. , cast-iron pipe water works system 
is too well known to need further comment. — The Bayonne (N. J .) Times. 



ALBANY, NEW YORK. 

Cast-Iron Water Pipe Weakened by Rust and Accretions. — To 

Put on a Pressure to Create Greater Force Woued Cause 

the Pipes to Burst. — Puny Streams from Hose Nozzees. 

There is much trouble at Albany, New York. The local papers are taking 

the subject up, and the Albany Evening Journal says editorially: "The 

city of Albany is threatened with a calamity whose proportions are almost 

too threatening to consider without arousing widespread alarm. 

Regarding the fire at Broadway and Division Street, the Albany Morn- 
ing Express says : ' ' After a line of hose had been laid and connection 
made, there issued from the nozzle a puny stream about half an inch in 
diameter, rising to a height of about ten feet. The crowd cheered and 
hooted while the firemen turned this stream in the direction of the fire, 
which was merely blazing 30 to 40 feet above." 

Other extracts from the Express are as follows: "The Commissioners 
now claim that the mains conveying the water from the pumping station to 
the reservoir are so weakened by rust that almost numberless breaks have 
occurred, and that to put up extra pumps creating a greater force would 
cause the pipes to burst." — Fire and Water, March j, 1894. 



BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. 

The Tabernacle burned down on Sunday, May 13, 1894. Much more 
property was also destroyed. * * * Even then the flames should not 
have spread to the adjacent hotel. They spread there because there was a 
delay to sound the alarm, hence the department was not quickly on hand, 
and because the water mains had corroded from an intended six-inch cir- 
cumference to less than a four-inch circumference, and through that reduced 
channel four engines were not enough to send a single stream sixt3^-five feet 
high. — Brooklyn Eagle. 

J. JOHNSTONE 
Writing to the London Engineer on electric light cables, 
Mr. J. Johnstone, of Edinburgh, mentions the action set up 
between the metallic bases of earths and metals. He says : 



398 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Attention was first drawn to the subject upwards of forty years ago, 
when I saw a cast-iron water main lifted out of a street in Greenock, where 
it had lain in a small bed of sand crossing the line of the street. At this 
part the outside of the pipe was covered with nodules, which were conglom- 
erates of sand and oxide of iron. Inside the pipe, opposite to each of the 
exterior nodules, was a corresponding nodule of oxide of iron. These in- 
terior nodules were shaped like those found in cavities of hematite. 



samuel Mcelroy, c. e„ 

The American Contract Journal, issue of July 5, 1884, 
reviews a paper read by Mr. Samuel McElroy entitled "Corro- 
sion of Cast Iron Pipes." We herewith reproduce the review : 

Mr. Samuel McElroy, while handling the above-named subject in a paper 
read by him before the Western Society of Engineers, claimed that a likely 
cause of corrosion in cast-iron pipe was to be traced to the class of raw 
material employed, with the defective system of manufacture pursued in the 
ordinary foundries greatly aggravating the original trouble arising from the 
use of inferior pig. 

In the first place, a cheap and easily melted pig is selected — specifica- 
tions and the inspection of quality and mixture not being strict — and the 
casting (for convenience of handling) is generally made in green sand 
moulds laid at a slope of about ten degrees from the horizontal. Impure 
metal is, therefore, run in a way that aggravates its defects. The core bars 
are coated with loam more or less soft and wet, sprinkled with sand. 

If not very carefully wedged, these bars will rise and they are seldom stiff 
enough to resist the upward pressure of molten metal. The usual spring at the 
center of the core of an eight inch pipe is one-sixteenth or one-eighth inch; 
or as much as three-sixteenths inch with a six inch pipe. The metal poured in 
from the upper end, first fills the lower section of the mould and as it rises 
round the core to fill the upper section, its weight springs the bar upward to the 
extent indicated, making the casting thicker at the lower, and thinner at 
the upper side. The denser, hotter and purer metal fills the lower portion, 
the impurities naturally floating upward to settle in the thinner metal as it 
cools. Here gather portions of the sand coating of the mould, while the 
bubbles of the metal, caused by the development of gas from the vegetable 
matter of the loam, and from its dampness, tend to perpetuate themselves in 
blisters and air cells. 

The usual defects in these cheap castings are, therefore, inequality in 
thickness, air cells and blisters, sand holes, cold chutes from chilled metal, 
and mixtures of sand and iron. Such pipes are also frequently out of line, 
from the effects of unequal contraction. Pipes of this description are pecul- 
iarly liable to corrosion containing, as they do, mixtures of metal of differ- 
ent densities, together with much graphite. The duration of such pipes in 
the ground is largely affected by the amount of disttirbance they receive. 
If well laid at a good depth, and throroughly packed they may continue 
serviceable for many 3-ears, but their defects are likely to become suddenly 
prominent upon comparatively slight external interference. In favorable 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 399 



circumstances they may last more than thirty years, but the majority, if 
tested after less use, will show flaws that would have insured their rejection 
if detected when new. 



DURHAM SYSTEM OF HOUSE DRAINAGE. 

You have doubtless all heard of the Durham Patent System 
of House Drainage. There are two companies doing business 
under this system. One is called " The House Drainage Com- 
pany of New York," and the second is called "The House 
Drainage Corporation, Limited, of London." The trustees and 
officers of the American Society are: Joseph P. Davis, Director 
Am. Soc, C. E. (formerly City Engineer of Boston); Rudolph 
Hering, M. Am. Soc. C. E. ; C. Fayette Taylor, M. D. ; Wm. H. 
Boardman, Manager Railway Gazette; Henry G. Peout, M. Am. 
Soc, C. E. ; C. W. Durham, M. Am. Soc. C. E. ; Charles P. 
Whitney, Steven Vail. The Directors of the London Company 
are : The Honorable W. F. B. Massey, Mainwaring; The Hon- 
orable Frederick Lawless ; Col. the Honorable W. P. Talbert. 

We take the following extracts from the publication of this 
company : 

Previous to the introduction of the Durham System of construction of 
house drains, in 1879, there had been no organized endeavor to improve the 
character of plumbing work. The new system is an entire departure from 
plumbing practices, employing new materials and new methods, and has 
elevated the trade of plumbing to the dignity of an engineering business. 

W. K. Burton, Civil Engineer to the London Sanitary Protective As- 
sociation, writing for the Sanitary Record, of March 15, 1882, when speak- 
ing of the cast-iron drain pipes of London houses, says that " practically 
every house in London should have its drain unreservedly condemned, or a 
certain small amount of danger nmst be allowed to pass. Plumbers' cast- 
iron soil pipe is brittle, open to defects from sand holes and uneven casting, 
and the thickness of the iron in the bell of the hub does not admit of the 
proper calking of the lead, which makes the joint." 

Col. Waring, of great experience in the Eastern cities, when speaking 
of the cast-iron soil pipes, says: " Until quite recently I should have said 
that the cast-iron soil pipe, jointed with calked lead, was one of the most com- 
plete elements of satisfactory house drainage. Recent experiments in test- 
ing such pipe by closing their outlets and filling them with water, has led 
to the conclusion that of all the lead joined cast-iron soil pipe now in exist- 
ence in American houses, not one in one hundred would fail to leak under 
test. 

" I have recently had occasion to test the cast-iron soil pipe of a large 
house of the best class, where the greatest effort was made to secure tight 
work, where the joints were so exposed that there was no difficulty in calk- 
ing them thoroughly, and where there was every reason to suppose that 



400 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



every joint was absolutely tight. On closing the outlets and filling the pipes 
with water the whole system leaked like a sieve. My assistant in charge of 
the examination reports with regard to the upper section, that a joint that 
does not leak is an exception." 

Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, the eminent surgeon, in his paper on " Sewer 
Gas," in the Popular Science Monthly for November, 1882, says : "Lead 
and cast-iron pipes are subject to corrosive action of the gas and various 
re-agents. They are, also, like the traps, liable to be broken by the settling 
of walls, floors and fixtures, and they are occasionally broken by their own 
weight." 

Dr. Billings says : " There is more danger from pin holes in cast-iron 
pipes than from the traps." 

rir. Charles F. Wingate, Sanitary Engineer, says : " Even the best 
plumbing will not last forever, but needs attention. Teaks may occur to 
permit the admission of sewer gas from drain pipes, due to defective cast- 
ings." 

Plumbers' cast-iron soil pipe is made in five feet lengths. Two qualities 
are manufactured ; " regular " and " extra heavy." The " regular " pipe is 
considered absolutely worthless by the best plumbers, and about thirty per 
cent, of the " extra heavy" fails under test. Quite commonly all the metal 
will be found on one side of the pipe, leaving only a film on the other. 

We have brought forward enough arguments to convince every fair 
mind that proper mechanical construction must be the condition of every 
good system of drainage. To secure this only suitable materials must be 
used. 

It might be possible to construct a heavy boiler out of cast-iron, but all 
engineers select wrought-iron in preference. It might be possible to erect a 
vertical line of cast-iron soil pipe, which would not leak if tested, but we 
are not informed of this feat ever having been accomplished. 

In the Durham System all the vertical waste and soil pipes are wrought- 
iron steam pipe, coated with asphaltum and screwed together. This pipe is 
one-fourth inch thick, in lengths of twenty feet, perfect in every particular, 
and tested to a pressure of 500 pounds per square inch of surface. These 
pipes stand upright from the drain and are independent of the building for 
support. This method of construction makes the drainage system invulner- 
able and the joints perfectly tight. 

By the use of wrought-iron pipes and screw joints we construct a drain- 
age apparatus within the building which is gas and water tight, as regards 
the joints ; rigid, yet elastic ; entirely independent of the walls and floor for 
support, aud absolutely invulnerable. 

The wrought-iron soil pipes are screwed into elbow fittings. As a struc- 
ture, our system of wrought-iron pipes will last as long as airy building will 
stand, without any outlay for repairs. 



W. S. McHARG, C. E. 



In the early part of this century it was found in England that certain 
potable waters were having a disastrous effect on the cast-iron pipes used in 
the water-systems of various towns. Red rust formed in the pipe in tuber- 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 401 



cles and contracted the area of the pipe so as to cripple the water-service, in 
some instances closing the pipe. 

The cost of cleaning by scrapers was large, and became a serious item 
in the cost of maintenance. 

I have for about ten years used wrought-iron pipe for soil and waste 
pipe, and coal tar varnish applied to heated pipe I have found a perfect pro- 
tection. It does not blister or scale from heat in cutting in a machine as 
the heavier asphalt coatings do, and in pipe examined after being in use 
some eight years the coating is intact. 

Some fifteen hundred water-closets in the town of Pullman drain through 
three-inch coated wrought-iron soil pipe which I put in, and from the thou- 
sands of feet used there for six or seven years I have no complaint. They 
are still putting in the same work. — Sanitary News. 



PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. 

A SILENT WITNESS. 
Under this expressive heading, the Pittsburgh Commercial 
Gazette, in its issue of July 7th, 1887, published the important 
item which appears below: 

A Silent Witness. — A Speecheess Witness Against the Monon- 
gaheea Water Company. 
A silent witness in the form of a section of 6 inch water pipe will be 
brought before the South Side Water Investigation Committee to-night at 
City Hall. The Monongahela Water Company disputed the claim that 
their supply is reduced on occasions by the pipes being choked up by slime, 
mud and corrosion, and the citizens who are fighting them propose to prove 
by the pipe that the company has failed to fulfill its contract. The pipe is 
so much corroded that its diameter is very much decreased. 

For some time the Monongahela Water Company and the 
citizens have had a controversy regarding the purity of the water 
and the efficiency of the service. The main complaint of the 
people on the South Side of Pittsburgh has been that the cast- 
iron pipes in many streets have become so choked up with tuber- 
cular accretions and filth, as to render their service impaired and 
the quality of the water deteriorated. 

In this connection it is quite important to note what Mr. 
Harry Oliver, of the well-known firm of Messrs. Oliver Bros. & 
Phillips, told our Mr. E. C. Converse. Mr. Oliver stated that 
he had been obliged to make extensive arrangements at his Tenth 
Street mill for an ample supply of water as a protection against 
fire, the reason being that the Water Company's pipes leading 
to his mill were almost completely choked up with rust and filth. 



402 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We are creditably informed that much of the cast-iron pipe in 
the South Side system is in the same deplorable condition that 
exists in the Allegheny City and Pittsburgh systems, causing 
constant replacements with new pipe, and great danger from in- 
efficient service. 

So great has been the complaint on the South Side that an 
Investigation Committee was appointed a short time since, and 
last night the citizens produced before the Investigation Com- 
mittee a section of water pipe which had been dug up, and which 
was "The Silent Witness" referred to in the article above 
copied. Like all of the miles of pipe which are now being taken 
up in Pittsburgh and Allegheny, for replacement with new pipe, 
it was choked up with slime, mud and corrosion. 

So great is this trouble that we reproduce other items which 
have appeared from time to time in the public press : 

The South Side Water Supply. 
A special meeting of the Committee of City Councils on the South Side 
•water supply will be held this evening. About 150 witnesses have been 
summoned to appear. The clerk's office is piled full of sections of broken 
pipes, pipes eaten through by rust, pipes that are hardly pipes, but solid 
pieces of iron rust and fungus growth. All these will be put in evidence 
as testimony on the questions that will come up before the committee — 
Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph. 

Monongaheu Water. 
A late chemical analysis and report on the water supply from the 
Monongahela River shows that, as compared with the terribly bad Pitts- 
burgh supply, it contains 100 per cent, more total solids, fixed solids, 
organic matter, free ammonia, albuminoid ammonia, chlorine, nitric and 
nitrous acids, and 600 per cent, more sulphuric acid. Since January 1, 18S7, 
there have been reported 2,037 cases of typhoid fever, 66 per cent, of this 
being charged to the South Side, which gets its water from the Monon- 
gahela. — The Sanitary Era, March 1, 1890. 

WAILING FOR WATER. 

A Council Committee Listens to the Complaints of Residents oe 
the South Side Hilltops.— Very Filthy and Little of it. — 
The Monongahela Company Officials say they are Working 
Hard To Provide a Remedy. — Talk of Forming a Bucket Bri- 
gade.— A visit of Inspection to be paid to the South Side 
Water Works. 
The Monongahela Water Company's capacity for supplying the South 

Side with enough water which shall not contain the germs of typhoid fever 

or other diseases is to be investigated by a special committee of councils on 

Friday afternoon. 

The committee held a meeting in Select Council Chambers yesterday 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 403 



afternoon, at which Hon. A. C. Robertson presided. The dissatisfied citizens 
of the South Side had been requested to attend, as were the officials of the 
water company. There were not many of the former present, and those who 
were there came from the thirty-fifth ward. 

Mr. G. L. Holliday, President of Common Council, opened the proceed- 
ings by stating that the citizens of the thirty-fifth ward had held two meet- 
ings, and had appointed a committee of six gentlemen to state their 
grievances to this committee. 

Mr. Reitz presented the statements of twenty-five South Side residents 
and patrons of the Monongahela Water Company living in different portions 
of the hill district. Mr. Robertson read the statements, which disclosed a 
terrible state of affairs. The more striking complaints, with the names of 
the complainants, are as follows : * * * 

After some further desultory discussion, the committee adjourned to 
meet Friday afternoon, when the water works will be visited and inspected. 
— Pittsburgh Dispatch, August 12, i8go. 



ALLEGHENY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The following extracts from the local city papers, together 
with a perusal of the special report of W. B. Houghton, will 
serve to show the tuberculated condition of the smaller cast-iron 
pipes in the city of Allegheny; 

During the conversation, Chief Crow, of the Fire Department, was an 
interested listener. At the close he said he had something to say concerning 
the scanty water supply and the way in which it affected the fire department. 
Said he : " In the fourth ward, from Ohio street down as low as South Canal 
Street, and from Cedar Avenue to Chestnut Street, the supply was very 
meagre. The cast-iron pipes have all been laid a number of years. The 
largest is six inches in diameter, and these are sometimes so stopped up as 
to leave an opening of only one and one-half-inches." — Pittsburgh Telegraph, 
April 16, 1883. 

The citizens of Allegheny City are again making long and loud com- 
plaints about impure water. In a conversation with Chief Crow it was 
stated that in some of the lower wards the cast-iron pipes that were laid 
about twenty years ago are filled with animal matter, from which the stench 
is unbearable when the water is turned on. Superintendent Armstrong, who 
was also near, took occasion to dissent from this opinion, holding as he did 
that water purifies itself by not remaining in the pipe long enough to become 
contaminated. — Pittsburgh Leader, February 11, 1885. 

The Allegheny water committee, Mr. Browne, chairman, met last night 
and instructed Superintendent Armstrong to prepare an estimate of the cost 
of placing additional pumping machinery in the Howard street works. The 
Controller was directed to advertise for bids for supplies needed during the 
year. Superintendent Armstrong and Chief Crow will consult about placing 
additional fire plugs in various parts of the city. Superintendent Armstrong 
made a statement about the alleged impure water in the city. He said that 



404 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the cast-iron pipes were old, corroded, full of filth, and there are more germs 
of cholera in one foot of the old pipes than in the entire Allegheny river. 
The committee ordered the superintendent to open all the plugs some day 
in the near future and place all the engines in operation, running to their 
full capacity. This will have the effect of cleaning out the pipes, and will 
also clean the streets. — Pittsburgh Telegraph , January 20, 1885. 



W. B. HOUGHTON'S SPECIAL EEPOET. 

Allegheny City, Pa., March 18, 1885. 
In accordance with your request I have called upon the Water Works 
Superintendents and others, in the cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, and 
have elicited the following information in relation of the serviceability of 
cast-iron pipe for conveying water, its tendency to tuberculate, and be- 
come filthy, unhealthy, etc. ; also, such facts as I could gather in relation to 
the merits or demerits of wrought-iron pipe for water-carrying purposes, its 
lasting qualities underground, etc. : 

Pittsburgh, Pa. — This system consists of 140 miles of cast-iron pipe. 
Some of it has been in the ground forty years. How long it has been service- 
able and fit to carry drinking water is a puzzle, but as often as funds and 
time permit, replacements are made. Then the real facts come to light. 
Incrustation and tuberculation present a sight unpleasant to witness, espe- 
cially to those who have been drinking water from these same pipes. 

Replacements. — Fifty thousand dollars worth of replacements are to 
be made the coming summer. " The replacements will not be made any too 
soon," was the remark of Superintendent George H. Browne. "Why," 
said he, ' ' I can smash all the pipe in this city ranging from four to eight 
inches in diameter with a pressure of eighty pounds to the square inch," 
and further remarked that he had taken up four and five-inch cast-iron pipe 
almost closed up with tuberculation. He had also taken up twelve-inch 
cast-iron pipe having been in the ground only twelve years, which had 
tubercles an inch thick around the inner surface of the pipe. He showed 
me a four-inch cast-iron valve taken out of the ground after a four weeks' 
service, plainly showing the tubercle formation. Small pimples of rust had 
already made their appearance all through the inside, ranging from, say, 
one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and projecting fully 
one-sixteenth of an inch. At this rate of filling, trouble might be looked 
for in a very few years. Mr. Browne further said that all the old pipe from 
four to eight inches in diameter now doing service in the city ought to be 
taken up, because it is in a tuberculated and unsafe condition, entirely un- 
fit to stand a pressure usually expected of such sizes, besides being in con- 
stant fear of bursts and washouts, and, in case of fire, unreliable for needed 
supply. Superintendent Browne hopes the day is not far off when the 
public will be supplied with a pipe having a clean and smooth inner surface 
that will remain in this condition during the life of pipe, capable of deliver- 
ing water as pure and clean as when it leaves the reservoir. 

Mr. Thomas McNeil, of McNeil Brothers, boiler makers in this city, 
says, when the City of Pittsburgh began what is known as the new extension 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 405 



water-works, tests were made to determine whether wrought-iron or cast- 
iron pipes should be used for the rising mains running from the pumping 
station to Brilliant Hill. The test was decidedly in favor of wrought-iron 
pipe. After submitting the same to councils it was adopted. One great 
argument offered at this time in favor of wrought-iron pipe was the exhibi- 
tion of a wrought-iron clamp around a piece of cast-iron pipe which had 
remained in the ground forty-two years. The cast iron had crumbled, and 
would powder between the hands, while the wrought-iron clamp was perfect 
in all respects, except a little corrosion on the corners. The clamp w y as then 
cut in two in the middle. The clean cut surface proved to be bright and 
perfect, showing no signs of rust or decay. These rising mains are forty- 
two inches in diameter, four thousand feet long, and weigh eight hundred 
tons, and have been in constant service eleven years, standing under a 
pressure of 165 pounds to the square inch. When put in position they were 
treated to a coat of paint, but as a portion of them were exposed to the 
weather, the paint was soon worn off, leaving the bare iron to resist storms, 
sun, etc. McNeil, who made a part of these rising mains, asserts that they 
are now to all appearances in as perfect condition as when they left his shop 
fourteen years ago. As soon as practicable after these mains had been laid 
(new extension) the pressure was raised to sixty pounds to the square inch 
in a line running near McNeil's boiler shop. No sooner had the pressure 
been increased than six lengths of six-inch cast-iron pipe burst and had to 
be taken out of the ground. This line, as near as McNeil can remember, 
had been in the ground ten years. Another line of eight-inch cast-iron 
pipe was taken up in this same locality which had been in the ground a 
little over eight years. McNeil examined it and gave it as his opinion that 
it would not stand a pressure of twenty-five pounds to the square inch, and 
further said that the life of cast-iron pipe in his neighborhood is not over 
sixteen years. McNeil is an old resident, has been in his present place of 
business twenty years, is thoroughly acquainted with both wrought iron 
and cast iron, and knows whereof he speaks. 

Unclean Cast Iron Pipes. 
The cast-iron pipes conveying water through the greater part of this city 
are undoubtedly in a filthy and tuberculated condition. Many citizens have 
entered complaints, others have become indignant, while some say the water 
is impure where it is taken from the river and pumped into the reservoir. 
While the latter may or may not be true, it is certain that no improvement 
can be expected, whatever the condition of the water at the river, by carry- 
ing it through filthy pipes. In conversation with Superintendent Edward 
Armstrong, he told me that all the old pipes in the First, Second, Third and 
Fourth wards were to a greater or less extent filled up (tuberculated would 
be the proper term). He (Armstrong) has taken up four inch cast-iron pipes 
filled up to within the space of two fingers, and six inch cast-iron pipes hav- 
ing less than a two and one-half inch space for the flow of water. Mr. Arm- 
strong is removing these tuberculated pipes when funds and time permit of 
so doing. His experience has been almost entirely with cast-iron pipe, but 
believes if wrought-iron pipe could be coated so as to resist the action of made 
ground, such as coal ashes, etc., it would last indefinitely, and in virgin soil 
feels certain that the bare wrought-iron pipe would last as long as any pipe 



406 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



yet produced. Mr. Armstrong said he had heard of a short line of bare 
wrought-iron pipe, laid in Pittsburgh, which had been in the ground thirty- 
two years ; when taken up it was to all appearances as perfect as when put 
down. 

Chief Crow, of the Allegheny Fire Department, says all the cast-iron 
pipe in the First, Second, Third and Fourth wards should be removed 
without delay. They are filthy, tuberculated, dangerous and unhealthy, 
and unfit to carry water for house and drinking purposes. Besides being 
unhealthy, these tuberculations lessen the water space, thereby rendering 
the pipes less efficient in case of fire. Complaints of the above nature 
having been made, it was decided to take up some of the pipe for examin- 
ation, and, upon inspection, the Chief's assertions were fully verified. For 
instance, cast-iron pipe five inches in diameter was found to have less than 
a two-inch space for the flow of water. This is but one of many and 
similar instances The Chief was present when a lot of five-inch cast-iron 
pipe was taken out of the ground in Robinson street. It was almost filled, 
and the stench produced by it was so great that the Chief was obliged to 
turn his back to get a breath of pure air, and declared, if compelled to do 
either, he would rather have belonged to a gang of scavengers removing 
night soil than to have assisted in removing these filthy pipes ; and further 
remarked that the Board of Health might make themselves useful by 
investigating this matter, unclean water pipes, exercising their powers for 
the good of the community, and, in his opinion, if pushed to the proper 
solution, would lessen the death rate of the City of Allegheny. 

In conclusion I would say that I have covered all the ground in and 
about Pittsburgh, having obtained data from those public officials whose 
duty calls them to know about and have experience with both wrought-iron 
and cast-iron pipe. My instructions were to get facts fairly and equitably, 
and avoid ex parte statements, and I have done .so. 

(Signed) W. B. Houghton. 



This morning word was telephoned the Allegheny Mayor's office that 
the main cast-iron water pipe on Strawberry Lane had burst, and was 
overflowing everything. Word was immediately sent to the Water Depart- 
ment and a force of men sent to repair the damage. It is feared it may shut 
off the water supply from the Ninth Ward for a few days. — Pittsburgh 
Leader, January 25, 1S85. 



At the meeting of the Allegheny Water Committee on Monday evening, 
Superintendent Armstrong will make an important suggestion, which will 
probably be acted upon. The Superintendent has hit on a plan to improve 
the quality of the water which he believes will be attended with beneficial 
results. He proposes to run a pipe from the mains in the streets into the 
sewer drops and allow the water to run continually all summer. This, he 
believes, will prevent filth from accumulating in the cast-iron pipes and 
destroying the purity of the water. The capacity of the new water works 
engines is more than equal to the proposed waste. — Pittsburgh Dispatch, 
February 6th, 1885. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PlPE. 40? 

Cleaning The Pipes. — Superintendent Armstrong, of the Allegheny 
Water Works, yesterday blew out the pipes in the Fifth Ward. Twelve 
men were engaged in the work. There has been considerable complaint in 
that end of the city of the impurity of the water. — Pittsburgh Dispatch, 
Februaiy ioth, 188j. 



DRIVE THEM TO DRINK 

Something Else than Water— The Water Pipes of Allegheny 
Said to be in a Horrible State with Sediment and Filth — 
Chief Crow Wants Them Taken Up. 

Chief Crow, Major Hunker of the Poor Board, President Hunter of 
Common Councils, Superintendent Armstrong of the Water Works, and 
James S. Young, Esq., were individually either bracing themselves against 
the wall or hanging on the baluster at the top of the stair in City Hall, Alle- 
gheny, last evening, as the reporter mounted the stair. 

Leveling the conversation at the interloper, Chief Crow said : 

" Something ought to be written about the filth that is collected in some 
of the cast-irou water mains. Some of them contain filth so putrid that if 
they were taken up you could not stand the stench. You should have seen 
one on Robinson street which was taken up recently. The dirt was several 
inches thick all around the pipe and the stench was intolerable. Some of 
the mains in the city have been down for twenty and others for twenty-five 
years, and have during all that time been collecting a sediment or deposit, 
which is in a continual state of the rankest decomposition. 

" O, it's no worse than an old country well, full of dead cats, and toads, 
and old shoes," continued Mr. Young, thoughtfully. 

" Water purifies itself, observed Superintendent Armstrong, and I don't 
think the water is in the pipes long enough to be contaminated by the filth 
in them, and besides, if the filth had not bien deposited in the pipes it 
would have been consumed with the water. The sediment solidifies, and 
the part next the pipe is almost as solid as stone." 

" Yes, but how about the rest ?" said the Chief. 

" Well the late deposit is soft and plastic," added Mr. Armstrong. 

" And fragrant," observed Mr. Hunter. 

" We are in no worse condition than other cities where cast-iron mains 
are used," said Mr. Armstrong. " It is a matter that cannot be helped. I 
blow the pipe out frequently by opening the fire plugs, but this doesn't ef- 
fect an entire remedy. There are two men employed by me for this 
purpose alone and they are busy continually. The pipes used now do not 
collect the dirt, however, like the ones used for mains twenty years ago. 
They were very rough inside, but now they are more smooth and are greased 
and oiled inside so that the sediment does not get so much of a chance to 
collect." 

"This old pipe ought to come up," said Chief Crow. " It may cost a 
big sum of money, but it ought to be done. It's simply a question of ex- 
pense of drinking water that flows over a bed of terrible corruption." — ■ 
Pittsburgh Times, February u, iS8j. 



408 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



GEORGE H. BROWNE, C. E. 

Supt. Browne, of the Pittsburgh water works, told General 
Manager Converse on Saturday, June 6, 1885, that tubercles 
would form in cast-iron pipe, whether coated or not; that the 
most improved process of coating cast-iron pipe only helped 
the outside ; that he had lately taken up a line, which it 
was necessary to move, and which had only been laid two 
years; that the pipe was new, and was coated with Dr. Angus 
Smith's patent process; that the inside of the pipe was rusted 
and tubercled. 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. 

This is the city to which all the cast-iron manufacturers, or 
foundrymen, refer as model works; they refer to Philadelphia in 
their circulars and in their speeches. In one of the pamphlets 
issued by the cast-iron syndicates they use this language: 

It is fair to suppose that the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Pitts- 
burgh command the best engineering talent in connection with their water 
supply, and in no one of these cities has a foot of any substitute for cast-iron 
pipe been laid. It is a conclusive fact that the use of substitutes for cast- 
iron has been confined to small towns, and has never been recommended by 
any one of our important hydraulic engineers. 

We will now review the pipe system of Philadelphia, since 
it is mentioned by the cast-iron men as their model of excellence. 
In the annual report of the City Engineer of the Water Depart- 
ment of the City of Philadelphia, for the year 1881, we find the 
following items, under the head of "Maintenance of Pipes." 
You will notice a gradual increase of expenses, which may be 
attributed to the increased age of the pipe: 
1855 .... $ 8,780 37 1869 .... $27,997 13 

1856 12,282 14 1870 27,157 95 

1857 .... 17,49! 62 i«7i • • • • 27,9s 1 8 7 

1858 12,249 56 1872 27,990 80 

1859 .... 8,357 42 1873 .... 32,000 00 

i860 8,628 S3 l8 74 43, 99 8 33 

1861 .... 7,968 89 1875 .... 46,996 21 

1862 8,147 3° 1876 49,988 51 

1863 .... 9,053 57 1877 .... 24,998 68 

1864 17,346 79 1878 24,791 02 

1865 .... 17,002 38 1879 .... 24,843 43 

1866 !7,363 77 1880 24,489 81 

1867 .... 20,787 28 1881 .... 24,931 16 

1868 22, 149 69 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 409 



The total cost of the repairs to the cast-iron mains alone, not 
including any other part of the system, but simply and solely 
the cast-iron mains during the period of twenty-seven years, from 
1855 to 1881, was $595,744.01. During this same period, be- 
sides the enormous amounts of money necessary to keep the pipe 
in repair, there was taken up and abandoned 95,794 f eet 0l cast- 
iron pipe, or nearly twenty miles. 

In 1855 the system of the Philadelphia water works con- 
sisted of 220 miles. To this system new cast-iron pipe was con- 
stantly added, from year to year, until we find the record of 
1881, which is the report from which we are quoting, sums up 
700 miles. 

In the same report, in speaking of the different shops which 
the department have organized for repairs, the Chief Engineer 
says: 

The Cherry street shop should be removed to the neighborhood of the 
Spring Garden works, a locality central to all the pumping stations, with 
railroad facilities to each of them, and it should be enlarged and better tools 
and facilities provided for the constantly increasing demands made upon it 
to keep in repair and maintain in good order the pipes under the care of the 
department. 

During the year 1881 there were reported 1,070 breaks and 
leaks. In the report for the year 1882 the Chief Engineer again 
calls the attention of the Committee of Water Works to the 
"constantly increasing demand made upon the shops to keep in 
repair the pipes under the care of the department." 

In the report of the Board of Experts to the Select and 
Common Councils, made October 14, 1882, special mention is 
made that accidents occur from breakage of the cast-iron mains. 

On the thirteenth of January, 1883, one of our officers called 
on Mr. John L. Ogden, Assistant Engineer in charge of the dis- 
tribution system of the Philadelphia water works, and had a long 
and pleasant talk with him. In answer to our question as to the 
present general condition of the cast-iron mains in the city of 
Philadelphia, Mr. Ogden's reply was, that as a rule, the condi- 
tion of the mains larger than six inches was good, but the con- 
dition of the mains below six inches was very bad. Upon being 
asked the principal reason for the large amount of cast-iron pipe 
which had been taken up, Mr. Ogden replied, "principally be- 
cause of tuberculation." 

Referring to the report of the Chief Engineer for the year 



410 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



1883, we gather the following valuable information, which we 
herewith reproduce: 

Experience has shown, that under ordinary circumstances, cast-iron 
pipes become to a considerable extent obstructed by the accumulation of 
rust and sediment in the interior, and that in a period of from ten to twenty 
years, this obstruction will become so serious as to nearly or entirely close 
the pipes. This, as a matter of fact, is known to be the case with by far the 
larger portion of pipes now in service less than six inches in diameter, and 
the accompanying drawing is intended to illustrate the interior condition of 
the pipe and the extent to which the obstruction prevails. The department 
has a number of striking examples of this fact, and the drawing was made 
from a longitudinal section of a two inch cast-iron pipe, which had been in 
the ground for about twenty-four years ; the opening available for the pas- 
sage of water would not admit the tip of the little finger. It is manifest that 
pipes in this condition are almost useless, and in particular, for fire pur- 
poses are of no value whatever. 

Complaints are almost daily received of the quality of the water, short 
supply or leaks. These are immediately placed in the hands of competent 
parties for investigation, and, where possible, remedy is applied. Cast-iron 
service pipes, after a few years, become more or less closed with rust or 
sediment. The small cast-iron service pipes laid in this city are as follows : 

2-inch 6,317 feet. 

3 " 226,171 " 

4 " 583417 " 

Or a total of over 154 miles, all of which were laid previous to 1876, and in 
time became filled with rust and sediment. 

Again, in summing up for estimates of the Philadelphia 
Water Department for the year 1884, which was presented by 
the Chief Engineer to the City Controller, August 24, 1883, the 
following item, marked No. 4, was submitted: 

Another very important matter has not hitherto received the attention 
which it demands. In the earlier days it was the custom to put down small 
cast-iron pipes in small streets. So far as it is known, these small distrib- 
uting pipes less than six inches in diameter now in service are as follows : 

2-inch, 6,317 feet ; 3-inch, 226,171 feet; 4-inch, 583,417 feet, making a 
total of 815,905 feet, or very nearly 155 miles of small cast-iron pipe, some 
of which has been in the ground a long time. When these cast-iron pipes 
were new and clean, and the demand for water was limited almost entirely 
to household uses, this system answered its purpose, but in time the pipes 
became filled with rust and sediment, which in some instances entirely 
stopped or perforated them. The annoyance and disadvantage due to the 
existence and condition of these small cast-iron pipes, in connection with 
the leaking of distributing mains, have become intolerable, and the manu- 
facturing interests of the city, as well as its protection from fire, require that 
new and larger pipes shall be substituted for them. 

This warning would seem almost a prophecy. You are 
doubtless all familiar with the terrible and disastrous fire at the 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 411 



Almshouse, which resulted in the destruction of the Insane 
Asylum building and the loss of twenty and more lives. From 
the above warning of the Chief Engineer, it would seem that 
some disaster of this kind was apprehended, because of the 
tuberculated and filthy condition of the smaller sizes of cast-iron 
pipe throughout the water works system. The following report 
of the fire at the Almshouse is copied from the Philadelphia 
Public Ledger, February 13th, 1885. After rehearsing the par- 
ticulars of the fire, the Ledger reports : 

The firemen complained much about the lack of water. At times they 
could not throw a stream to the second story. Poor Guardian McAleer 
and other officials say the mains were too small ; that they were laid many 
years go, and even at that time were practically inadequate to the needs 
of the case, in case of fire. Overseer Snyder said that the entire water 
supply of the institution came through two cast-iron mains, one six inches 
in diameter and the other originally four inches, which had its diameter 
reduced by incrustation and other means to about one inch. The former 
comes down Thirty-sixth street directly alongside the Insane Department, 
and was laid but recently ; the old four-inch cast-iron main, which was put 
in a long time ago, passes along Forty-fourth street as far as Spruce, and 
enters the Almshouse ground at the northeast corner, traversing the prem- 
ises diagonally ; both are supplied from the Bellemont basin. 

We present herewith a drawing of the end view of a piece of 
this tuberculated cast-iron pipe, which was taken up from the 
Philadelphia system, abandoned by reason of tuberculation ; it is 
a sample of the condition of the 155 miles referred to by the 
Chief Engineer. It will be seen that the carrying capacity of the 
pipe is almost entirely destroyed by the accumulation of 
tubercles. The space which is left is zig-zag, and at some 
points almost entirely closed. In one or two places in the pipe 
from which this sample is taken the formation of tubercles in 
the inside have broken from the body of the pipe and fallen 
inside. 

Following up the same subject, comes another warning; this 
time in the shape of a long article published in the Philadelphia 
Press, Saturday morning, February 28th, 1885. One article is 
headed "Danger From Fire," from which we quote the fol- 
lowing: 

Fire in Philadelphia in two weeks gone by has swept the city w r ith 
disasters, and cost 26 lives and millions of dollars worth of property. No 
such feeling of insecurity and alarm has prevailed in Philadelphia for 
many years. Insurance companies have been driven to a state of anxiety 
bordering upon panic, and it is not strange that the inadequacy of the 



412 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



protection against fire has become, for the time, the topic paramount in the 
public mind. Statistics have been compiled which clearly indicate that 
something in the protective service was fatally lacking. During the year 
1884 there were in this city 881 fires, entailing a total loss of $2,254,412, and 
an average loss of $2,558. 

Accompanying this article, and taking up nearly one-half of 
the first page of this issue of the Press, is a plan taken from 
Hexamer's Insurance Map, and headed, " At the Mercy of the 
Flames; Diagram from Hexamer's Insurance Map, Showing the 
Present Defective Water Supply in the Commercial District." 
We again quote from the article headed, " Danger from Fire ": 

The accompanying plan, taken from Hexamer's Insurance Maps, is a 
more eloquent illustration of the lamentable condition of the system of water 
distribution that is found throughout the old city than can be conveyed by 
volumes of description. * * * In the whole section shown in the map, 
the one feeder that is of modern date and efficiency is the 20-inch main 
laid on Market Street in 1882. None of the plugs on Market Street 
have direct connection with this main, and nearly all of them are 
attached to parallel 6-inch mains laid 63 years ago. * * * The 
two 10- inch mains under Chestnut Street are 62 and 64 years old, respec- 
tively, while the great values that line both sides of Walnut Street are mainly 
dependent on a single six-inch pipe that has been under ground many years. 
* * * With the exception of Dock Street, which has mains of compara- 
tively modern date, the narrow cross streets, such as Bank, Strawberry, 
Exchange Place, Church and Lodge Streets, all of which environ property 
of enormous value, are furnished with three and four-inch cast-iron pipes 
of such remote date that Chief Engineer Ludlow admits their absolute use- 
lessness as a source of water supply in case of fire. 

Nor is this all. The Press evidently intends to make a clean 
exhibition, and adds to the above another article on the first 
page headed, "The Defective Water Supply; the Old Mains 
and Fire Plugs Inadequate in Case of Fire." * * * 

"This is the old text," said Col. Ludlow yesterday, "but perhaps a 
new sermon from an old text will, just at the present time prove effective. 
Let us take Mr. Blodget's figures as a basis. The total value of perishable 
property exposed to danger of fire within the limits of the old city is approx- 
imately $250,000,000. Now, let us see what means are available in the 
Water Department for the protection of these great values. There are within 
these limits 490,000 feet of cast-iron water pipe. More than thirty per 
cent, of this pipe is less than six inches in diameter, and ninety per cent, 
has been in the ground some thirty years. Now, experience has shown that 
three or four-inch cast-iron mains, after remaining in service for ten or 
tzvelve years, are reduced to one-fourth their original capacity by reason of 
rust and sedimentary accumulations, and half the six or eight-inch cast-iron 
-mains become practically useless after thirty or forty years of continual ser- 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 413 

vice. * * * Last fall, when I had occcasion to open the twenty-inch 
main of Broad Street, I found a solidly imbedded deposit five inches thick, 
and that in addition to the heavy incrustation of rust which accumulates 
invariably. * * * As for the three and four-inch cast-iron mains that 
were laid thirty or forty years ago, they are absolutely useless as a source of 
supply in case of fire, and the engine that tries to get a stream from one of 
these cast-iron mains will be about as effective as a good sized syringe." 

The above from the lips of Col. Ludlow, Chief Engineer of 
the Water Department, is well worth knowing, especially as it 
refers to the city to which the cast-iron men point as a reference. 

We also take the following from the Evening Telegram, of 
Philadelphia, February 18, 1884 : 

The efforts of the firemen, too, were greatly retarded by the insufficient 
water supply, as well as the iuconvenience caused by the crowds who choked 
up every avenue. At times it was impossible to get water enough to throw 
a stream to the second story. The attention of Councils was only recently 
directed by the Poor authorities and Chief Engineer Ludlow, of the Water 
Department, to the meagre water supply at the Almshouse, and the necessity 
of providing against the very contingency which arose last night. The entire 
water supply for the institution goes through two cast-iron mains ; one six 
inches in diameter, and the other originally four inches, but which has had 
its diameter reduced by incrustation and other means to one inch. 



ROCHESTER. 

Extracts from the fifteenth annual report of the Executive 
Board of the City of Rochester, N. Y., in charge of the Water 
Works, Fire and Highway Departments, and of Street Improve- 
ments, for the year ending April 6th, 1891. 

This report is very exhaustive and covers 223 pages of 
printed matter. The extracts given below refer to the condition 
of the conduits of both wrought-iron and cast-iron. The annual 
report, as a whole, is made up of reports of the Committee on 
Permanent Water Supply, and the following named well known 
civil and hydraulic engineers. 

The pipe used in the construction of these conduits consists 
of 15,723 lineal feet of 24-inch wrought-iron, and 35,772 lineal 
feet of 36-inch cast-iron and in the distribution system in the 
City of Rochester there is 48,089 and 42, 100 lineal feet of wrought- 
iron pipe in use. 

Water Works Office, \ 

Rochester, N. Y., April 6th, 1891. f 
To the Honorable the Executive Board. 

Genteemen : — In submitting the following report, the undersigned 
solicits your kind indulgence for presenting only such departmental matters 



414 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



as have occurred during his incumbency of office inasmuch as circumstances 
have hitherto prevented him from making a close study of occurrences 
earlier in the fiscal year. * * * 

The Conduit. 

On entering upon the duties the writer was confronted with a variety of 
statements representing the condition and integrity of the twenty miles of 
conduit from Hemlock Lake to Rush Reservoir. A close examination of the 
route of the pipe disclosed no leaks of appreciable magnitude, and soon 
afterwards it was rendered practically staunch throughout its whole extent. 
Inquiry from Messrs. Oviatt and Crennell, who have been in charge of the 
two sections of the conduit between the points named continuously for 
many years past, elicited the facts that no noticeable deformation of the 
wrought-iron pipe existed in any locality, and that the asphalt coating of 
the pipe was still in excellent order wherever it had been exposed. These 
statements were, moreover, fully corroborated by the workmen who have 
been employed, and also by a number of laud-owners through whose prem- 
ises the pipe is laid. So far as the integrity of the conduit is concerned, 
therefore, there appears to be no reason whatever for anticipating any 
danger of failing in any portion of the line. * * * From the foregoing 
considerations the conclusion is therefore warranted that the conduit line is 
still in good order, so far as the physical condition of the iron at any point 
is concerned. 

The Original Discharging Capacity oe the Conduit. 

The conduit line was practically completed, and water from Hemlock 
Lake was first delivered into Rush Reservoir on January 22d, 1876, and into 
Mount Hope Reservoir on the day following. Gaugings of the capacity of 
the conduit were undertaken soon afterwards by the late L. L. Nichols, C. E., 
who was one of the assistant engineers employed upon the construction of 
the works, and who had for many years made the subject of theoretical 
hydraulics a special study. [Note.— Here follows a statement of the gaug- 
iugs, etc., taken by Mr. L. L. Nichols.] * * * The conclusions now 
seem thoroughly justifiable that the conduit did originally have a discharg- 
ing capacity of about 9,000,000 gallons per day. [The gaugings above 
referred to were taken January 27th, 28th, 31st, and on February 2d and 
7th, 1876.] 

The Present Discharging Capacity of the Conduit. 

In the early part of the summer of 1890, about fourteen and one-half 
years after the completion of the conduit, suspicion was first aroused that its 
delivery was not as large as formerly. Gaugings of the flow into Rush 
Reservoir were accordingly made during the nights of June 18th and 22d by 
Mr. Rafter, and during the daytime of July 5th by Messrs. Tubbs & Rafter, 
from which it was estimated that such flow did not exceed the rate of 
6,731,000 gallons in twenty -four hours (a loss in flow of not less than 
2,269,000.) 

Other and similar measurements were made on the following dates : 

October 10th, 189T, showing a discharge of 6,928,030 gallons. 

October nth, 1891, showing a discharge of 7,185,000 gallons. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 415 



March 8th, 1892, showing a discharge of 7,133,940 gallons. 

March 22d, 1892, showing a discharge of 7,141,901 gallons. 

The difference depending npon the height of the water in the lake. 

The foregoing figures are subject to slight alteration on revising the 
computations, but it is believed that they are not affected with any substan- 
tial error. It may also be remarked that the delivery of the conduit depends 
upon the height of the water in both the reservoir and the lake, and that 
a somewhat greater flow will occur when the reservoir is in a low stage than 
when it is nearly full. Without attempting to institute any comparison 
between these recent gaugings, it may be stated that under ordinary circum- 
stances the net capacity of the conduit from Hemlock Lake to Rush Reser- 
voir can fairly be considered as being about 7,000,000 gallons per day. 

Diminution of the Discharging Capacity of the Conduit. 

It is evident from the foregoing that a considerable reduction in the 
delivery of the conduit has taken place during the past fifteen years. What 
the cause of this diminvition is, cannot be definitely stated at present, owing 
to the inexpediency of emptying the conduit and examining the condition of 
its inner surface. * * * The only clue thus far obtained consists in the dis- 
covery of an extensive growth of spougilla on the interior surface of the twen- 
ty-four-inch cast-iron effluent pipe from Rush Reservoir on each side of the 
stop gate in the gate-house. This gate has long been out of order, and it 
was repaired on Sept. 19, 1890, the mouth of the pipe in the screening well 
of the reservoir being temporarily closed for this purpose by a plank shutter, 
whereupon the dome or the gate could be unbolted and removed. An 
opportunity w r as thus afforded to examine the interior of the pipe for a short 
distance on each side of the opening, and it was found that the top aud sides 
of the pipe as far as arm could reach, as well as the inside of the gate castings, 
were entirely covered with a dense growth of short, interwoven filaments. 
The mass was light brown in color, possessed considerable coherence and 
was detached in large fragments from the surface of the cast-iron. In 
appearance the substance resembled a cocoa fibre door-mat, although much 
softer to the touch, and its thickness was about an inch. Its odor was that 
of spongilla, and microscopic examination revealed the characteristic spores 
and spicules of that organism in great abundance. Several bucketfuls of this 
growth were within reach and duly removed. A significant circumstance was 
that the pitch coating of the cast-iron pipe peeled off along with the foreign 
matter and remained adhering to the roots of the latter. Considerable cor- 
rosion was also noticed on the inner surface of the gate castings. This stop 
gate is located about 130 feet from the mouth of the effluent pipe and the 
water pressure here is from six to nine pounds per square inch, depending 
on the depth maintained. Beyond the gate the pipe continues for about 
nine miles to Mt. Hope Reservoir. The foregoing details are submitted for 
the information of naturalists aud others who may be interested in the matter. 

The occurrence of such growths in cast-iron water mains is not unusual. 
In a paper on the subject which was read before the American Society of 
Civil Engineers on Oct. 15, 18S4, by Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald, resident 
engineer on the Boston Water Works, the author states that he has seen 
large cast-iron mains under a pressure of 100 feet, where the entire surface, 
as far as examined, was filled with a mass of sponge closely packed between 



416 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



and around the tubercles (or accretions of rust.) He has also seen them in 
all stages of growth. Within a few days a break in a 48-inch main, gave an 
opportunity to examine the sponge in company with Prof. Hyatt, who rec- 
ognized the young sponge as spongilla lacustris. Variety, flexis pina. 
Flushing will not remove this growth. Some form of scraper or wire brush 
is necessary. Similar experiences have also been recorded by engineers in 
other cities, and it hardly seems necessary to enlarge further upon this 
subject. 

Another common source of reduction of discharging capacity of cast-iron 
pipe is the development of the rust on the inner surface. It is generally as- 
sumed that the coal-tar pitch coating applied almost universally to cast-iron 
water pipes, is a permanent protection against corrosion, but experience has 
demonstrated that such is not the fact. Owing to the complex nature of the 
compound and the necessity for heating it to a high temperature, it seems 
to be extremely difficult for pipe manufacturers to maintain the coating 
mixture at a uniform standard ; and hence it is found that some pipes will 
exhibit corrosion much sooner than others which are made by the same 
men and processes at the same foundry. 

Ample evidence of this fact is afforded in our own city. The twenty 
miles of 24-inch cast-iron pipes laid in the conduit from Mt. Hope reservoir 
to a point about three miles south of the village of Honeoye Falls, were 
made in 1874 and 1875, contemporaneously at the same establishments that 
furnished over fifty miles of similar distributing pipes laid in our streets. 
Recently short portions of some of these later pipes belonging to the Hem- 
lock water system were cut out for the purpose of inserting new branches, 
whereupon it was seen that in some instances the interior was badly cor- 
roded, tubercles one-half inch thick and of large size covering almost the 
entire surface. If the conduit pipes are in a similar condition, the diminu- 
tion of flow can be easily explained. * * * 

From the foregoing it is evident that the reduction of discharging 
capacity of the conduit is attributable to some deterioration of its inner 
surface, either by the growth of spongilla or other organisms, or by the 
formation of rust, or by a combination of both. * * * But in order to 
afford conclusive evidence on this point, the examination of the water should 
be made frequently during the period when these organisms are in a state of 
decay. So far as can be learned, no systematic investigation of the water 
has been made during the past season, nor is much knowledge available 
regarding the rate at which the dead tissue is cast off to mix with the water, 
hence a satisfactory inference as to the extent of such growths cannot now 
be drawn. In like manner, the absence of rust in the conduit is not demon- 
stratable from casual examinations of the water distributed in the city, since 
this substance adheres altogether too strongly to be washed away by the 
current, and seems to develop much more rapidly in running than in stagnant 
water. 

Repairs to the Conduit. 

In connection with the subject of the " conduit " it may be of interest 
to submit here the following tabular statements of the number of leaks 
repaired during every month on the two divisions of about ten miles length 
each, between Rush Reservoir and Hemlock L,ake. These statistics have 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 



417 



been compiled from memoranda remaining in the possession of Messrs. 
Selden H. Oviatt and Robert Crennell, who have had direct charge of the 
pipe line for many years past, the former from the lake to the locality known 
as " Peck's Comers," and the latter from that point to the storage reservoir 
in Rush. It may be mentioned that Mr. Oviatt assumed his duties on Dec. 
ioth, 1877, * * * while Mr. Crennell took charge of his division in Jan., 
1876. * * * 

Leaks in the conduit are of three kinds, the 

First being from defective lead joints ; the 

Second is due to defective calking in the riveted seams of the 36 and 
24-inch wrought-iron pipe ; and the 

Third arises from breakage of the cast-iron hubs riveted to the 36-inch 
wrought-iron pipe. 

The first class of leaks occur constantly, and are chiefly due to the 
changes of length and diameter from variations of temperature, whereby the 
lead becomes displaced to some extent. If found before the displacement 
has progressed far, such leaks are quickly and easily stopped by carefully 
driving the lead back into place. In the second class the loss of water is 
relatively slight, and the pipe is made staunch by calking or upsetting the 
edge of the sheet at the point where the escape takes place. Since the final 
completion of the work in 1876 very few such leaks have occurred. When 
broken hubs are found, however, repairs of this class are both tedious and 
difficult. It should also be stated that none of the wrought-iron pipes have 
ever been taken out and replaced by others, or have been broken by the 
water pressure, or become deformed by collapse or the weight of the earth 
back filling since he has had charge of his division. Mr. Crennell also gives 
the same account of the behavior of the 24-inch wrought-iron pipe under his 
supervision, but mentions that four of the cast-iron pipes broke from some 
unknown cause and were replaced by new ones. In 1876 the greater number 
of leaks that were found and stopped occurred in the riveted seams, since 
which time this kind of leakage has been comparatively rare. 

Statement A — Showing approximate number of leaks repaired each year 
and month, from Dec. 10, 1877, to Jan. 1, 1891, by Supt. Selden H. 
Oviatt, on the 50,776 lin. ft. (9.617 miles) of 36-inch wrought-iron 
conduit, from gate house to Hemlock Take to beginning of 24-inch pipe. 



Year. 


Jan 


. Feb. 


Mai 


. Apr. 


May 


June 


July 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


TOT'L 


1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1S90 


3 
I 




4 
1 


6 
1 


IO 

4 
9 
3 
1 
1 
4 
3 
2 

'. 6 
1 


14 
8 

IO 
8 
3 
4 
4 
9 
2 

3 
3 
6 

3 


17 
5 
5 
9 
3 
4 

12 

3 
12 

9 

6 

1 

12 


10 

14 

3 

2 

3 

2 

8 

3 

9 

18 

14 
26 


3 
6 
8 
1 
6 

10 
2 
6 

12 
1 
6 
2 
8 


II 
6 
4 
3 
2 

12 
1 

11 
9 
3 

18 

3 
1 


7 
2 

4 

15 

2 

2 

1 

3 
3 


2 
2 
2 
I 

3 
1 
2 




I 

I 

I 
I 


I 

87 

49 
43 
32 
33 
33 
25 
42 
40 
26 
57 
36 
54 


Tot' Is 


• < 


!■ 5 


/ 


44 


77 


98 


112 


7i 


84 


39 


13 


4 


558 



418 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Note. — As above noted, these repairs were made under 
the direction of Mr. Oviatt on the 36-inch wrought-iron riveted 
pipe, the leaks being occasioned by "defective joints" and 
"defective caulking in the riveted seams of the pipe." 



STATEMENT B — Showing approximate number and kind of leaks repaired 
each year and month from Jan. 1, 1880, to Jan. 1, 1891, by Supt. Robert 
Crennell, on the ten miles of 24-inch conduit embracing 15,723 lin. ft. 
(2.978 miles) of wrought-iron riveted pipe, and 35,772 lin. ft. (6.775 miles) 
of cast-iron pipe from end of 36-inch pipe to Rush reservoir. 



Year. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May 


June 


July 


Aug. 


Sept. Oct. 


Nov. Dec. 


Tot'ls. 




J 


s 


J 


S 


J 


s 


J 


s 


J 


s 


J 


s 


J 


s 


J 


s 


J 


s| J 


s 


J 


s J 


s 


J 


S 


1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 


I 

■■ 
I 
I 

I 

2 
I 
I 




I 

2 
I 




3 

2 

I 




I 
I 

I 

I 

I 
3 

1 




2 

3 

2 
1 
1 

3 
1 

7 


2 


4 

4 
1 

5 
1 

7 
4 

1 

1 


1 
1 


8 

7 
2 

7 
2 

3 
6 
1 

4 


1 
1 


4 

3 
1 

3 
2 

1 

2 




IO 

2 
I 
2 
2 

3 
1 
2 


2 


1 
1 
2 
1 
2 

1 

1 

2 




I 
I 

2 
2 




I 

I 

I 

2 

I 

I 




20 
28 

14 
6 

24 
8 

18 

20 

15 
12 
16 


2 
2 

2 

I 
I 


Totals . 


8 




4 




6.. 


9 




20 


2 


28 


2 


40 


2 


16 




23 


2 


ri 




6 


" 


7 




181 


8 



Note. — " J " shows the number of lead joints repaired in 
ten years on 6^ miles of 36-inch cast-iron pipe, viz., 178 joints. 

"S" shows number of leaks repaired on riveted seams on 
2^ miles of 24-inch wrought-iron riveted pipe in ten years, viz., 



joints. 



The repairs on the conduit line for the past year as copied from the re- 
port, are as follows : 

Repairing leak at Slab City $628.16 

Material and labor of Repair Force 7,431.66 

(Other items charged up to) Repairs of Conduit 

Line 3, 294. 68 

Total cost of "Repairs to Conduit Line " for 

the year $11,354.50 

From the foregoing tabular statements it will be observed that by far the 
greater number of leaks in the conduit occur during the summer months, 
and that more than twice as many occur per year on the 36-inch pipe than 
on the 24-inch pipe. The cause of this latter circumstance is probably due 
in some measure to the fact that the 36-inch pipe is laid through a much 
more uneven territory than the 24-inch pipe, whereby the tendency of 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 419 



changes in length by variations of temperature in the individual pipes to ag- 
gregate at some single weak joint is greatly favored ; also to the fact that 
the rate of expansion and contraction by heat and cold is somewhat greater 
for wrought than cast-iron, and that on account of their greater individual 
length, which ranges from about 28 to 80 feet, the number of lead joints in 
the 36-inch conduit is much smaller than in the case of the 24-inch pipe. 
Another element may also be the inability to calk the lead very heavily in 
the 36-inch pipe joints on account of the lack of the necessary stiffness of 
the relatively thin spigot ends of plate-iron. * * * Experience with the 
36-inch conduit, has, however, amply demonstrated that by exercising rea- 
sonable care the lead joints can be kept secure and staunch. 



Report of the Committee on Additional Water Supply. 

Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1890. 
To the Hon. the Common Council. 

Gentlemen: — Your committee on the matter of obtaining an addi- 
tional supply of potable water has made an exhaustive examination of the 
subject, and deems that such a supply is necessary and should be provided 
as soon as possible, for the following reasons : 

First. — The existing conduit from Hemlock Lake has proved to be in- 
adequate during the past three years to meet the demands for water during 
the extreme hot and cold seasons, without resorting to restrictive measures 
which entail not only large outlays for the inspection of water pipes. * * * 
Second. — Recent gaugings of the discharge of the present conduit 
from Hemlock Lake have shown that its greatest available flow is only 
about 7,000,000 gallons per day * * * (whereas " the conduit did origi- 
nally have a discharging capacity of 9,000,000 gallons per day "). Exper- 
ience has, however, demonstrated that this supply must occasionally be 
interrupted for a period of from one to two days in order to make necessary 
repairs to defective joints and fixtures. Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) S. D. W. Cleveland, 

T. McMillan, 
J. Miller Kelly, 
Wm. H. Sullivan. 



Dec. 15th, 1890. 
We have to say that we concur in the recommendations of the report 
as read in our hearing. 

(Signed) W. H. Gorseline, 

Clinton Rogers, 
Wm. S. Kimball, 
James G. Cutler, 
J. E. Booth. 
The foregoing report was unanimously adopted. 



420 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Report on an Additional Water Supply by the Chief Engineer 
of the Water Works. 

Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1890. 
To the Committee of the Common Council on increasing the City's Water 

Supply. 

Gentlemen : — In response to your request to submit estimates, * * * 
the undersigned begs leave to submit herewith the following outlines of his 
investigations : * * * Furthermore, it must be remembered that any 
material increase of the discharging capacity of the existing conduit from 
Hemlock Lake is highly improbable, and that, as the population increases, 
the available supply will become proportionately less. For these reasons, 
therefore, it is manifestly expedient to undertake the construction of a new 
conduit as soon as possible. * * * With these elements, and a delivery 
of 15,000,000 gallons per day, with the same coefficient of hydraulic friction 
that has been shown by recent observations to exist in the present 24-inch 
conduit, after fifteen years of uninterrupted use, the following diameters are 
computed : Hemlock Lake Line, 35.30 inches ; Conesus Lake Line, 37.43 
inches. If the pipes could always be maintained in their original, new and 
smooth condition inside, then the diameters would become respectively, 
Hemlock Lake Line, 33.76 inches ; Conesus Lake Line, 35 90 inches, by 
the old standard formula of Darcey, respectively, Hemlock Lake Line, 
31.68 inches ; Conesus Lake Line, 33.65 inches by the new formula of Lampe. 
Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) E. Kuichling, 

Chief Engineer of Water Works. 



Supplementary Report of the Committee on Additional Water 

Supply. 

Rochester, N. Y. , Dec. 30, 1890. 
To the Hon. the Common Council. 

Your Special Committee on additional water supply beg leave to report: 
Your committee feel that these momentous questions should be carefulty 
considered by every member of the Common Council, and to that end re- 
commend that the matter be postponed until next Tuesday evening, to 
which time the ^present meeting should be adjourned. Respectfully sub- 
mitted, 

(Signed) S. D. W. Cleveland, 

J. Miller Kelly, 
T. McMillan, 
Wm. H. Sullivan, 
D. W. Selye, 

Committee. 

Supplementary Report on an Additional Water Supply by Chief 
Engineer of the Water Works. 

Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 30, 1890. 
To the. Committee of the Common Council on Additional Water Supply. 

Gentlemen : — In response to your request to submit estimates * * * 
the undersigned begs leave to submit the following. * * * All of the 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 421 



available maps, plans, data and calculations were accordingly laid before 
Mr. Fteley by the Committee on January 16, 1891, and were left in his pos- 
session until the completion of his report, which is herewith submitted. 



Report of A. Fteley, Consulting Engineer on the Estimates for 
an Additional Water Supply, prepared by the Chief Engin- 
eer of the Rochester Water Works in December, 1890. 

213 Stewart Building, \ 
New York, Jan. 26, 1S91. J 
S. D. IF. Cleveland, Esq., Chairman Water Committee, Rochester, N. Y. 

After my interview with your committe on i6thinst., I had a long con- 
ference with your Chief Engineer, Mr. Kuichling. * * * I find that 
several new propositions have been introduced into the question at issue. 

Mr. Kuichling, from investigations made himself, states that he has dis- 
covered that a growth of living matter, which appears to be a fresh water 
sponge, is found in parts of the conduit system, and he infers that it may be 
the cause of the small volume delivered by the present pipe. 

Cast-irou pipes, when properly manufactured, coated and laid, should 
be maintained in a proper condition of cleanliness, especially when, as in 
your case, the velocity of water through them is considerable ; but there are 
instances of such growths as Mr. Kuichling describes, due to local circum- 
stances. If such is the case, it is wise to make allowance for it in determin- 
ing the size of the pipes, and I agree with him that it should be done. 

Yours respectfully, 
(Signed) A. FTELEY, 

Civil and Hydraulic Engineer. 
Note. — The above report, together with an additional report of the 
Committee on Additional Water Supply was submitted to The Hon. The 
Common Council of the City of Rochester, N. Y., on January 30, 1891. 
(Signed) S. D. W. Cleveland, 

j. Miller Kelly, 
Wm. H. Sullivan, 
T. McMillan, 

Committee. 



In relation to the matter of an additional distributing reservoir the un- 
dersigned desires to express here his conviction that such a structure is emi- 
nently desirable and that its construction should not be deferred. No ma- 
terial repairs to Mt. Hope reservoir can be made without the risk of being 
deprived of the supply for domestic purposes for a period of at least eighteen 
hours, which would be the case if a break should occur in the cast-iron pipe 
conduit. Possibly th : s risk is very remote, but it exists nevertheless, since 
it is impossible to foresee when such a pipe may burst, even though it has 
been apparently sound and serviceable for years. Respectfully submitted. 
(Signed) E. Kuichling, 

Chief Engineer of Water Works. 



422 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Extracts from the Report of the "Superintendent of Repairs." 

Rochester, N. Y., Apr. 6, 1891. 
Work done for contractors and others, repairing mains 

broken while making excavations $629.41 

Wrought-iron pipe laid in distribution system from 

April 7th, 1890, to April 6th, 1891 (of all sizes) .... 44,676.19 ft. 



Totae Cost of Construction of Water Works to Date. 

Total $9,366,388.62 

Less amount paid by Executive Board to the City 

Treasurer for the interest on water bonds, 

out of the surplus earnings of the Water 

Works Department, including the credit in 

tax levies of $500,000 for water for public 

purposes $1,620,000.00 

Less amount received for rent, sale of property 

and interest 12,172.95 

1 , 632 , 1 72. 95 



$7,734,2i5-67 



ST. JOHNS, NEW BRUNSWICK. 

Notes on Leakage. — Tuberculous Growths in Pipes, etc., etc. 

The annual report of Gilbert Murdoch, C. E., Engineer and Superin- 
tendent sewage and w T ater works of St. Johns, N. B., for the year 1892, 
contains the following interesting reference to leakage and the life of water 
mains : 

While there is nothing worthy of special notice in that part of the 
above which relates to service pipes, yet a few condensed notes on some of 
that which occurred on mains, touching causes of failure, as well as age 
and appearance of pipe on which it took place, may be worthy of consider- 
ation from the bearing they have on the probable duration of what is 
technically called the "life of cast-iron pipe," conditioned as ours is in 
respect to soil, etc. 

The first of the year's leakages deserving of notice is one that was 
reported in April from the 4-inch main laid on Gilbert's lane. This leak 
was disclosed by a loss in pressure, and was not easily placed, as the water 
found a ready outlet through an old and unknown drain in the immediate 
vicinity. It was found, when reached, that its outside had undergone a 
softening process, as had happened in other cases under similar con- 
ditions. 

Some air cells were also discovered in the body of the metal. So soon, 
however, as this became unable to resist the daily pressure of 60 to 65 
pounds, a piece, following generally the course of the air cells, was blown 
from the side of the pipe. The film of metal that covered these air and 
sand holes was about one-eighth of an inch thick, and could be cut easily 
by an ordinary knife. * * * But the internal diameter was reduced about 
one-half of an inch by tuberculation. 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 423 



The next in point of date was a 2-inch pipe * * * in St. Andrew 
Street. Here, too, the trouble was caused by air cells. Thickness of metal 
on each side of cells about one-sixteenth of an inch. * * * Soil in which 
it was laid, brick clay. Diameter of pipe reduced by incrustation one inch, 
or one-half of what it was originally, and area to about one-fourth. 

Another instance of softening was found in September on the 6-inch 
pipe, Germain and King Streets, Hall's corner. This was a pipe of domestic 
make. * " ;; " * And when uncovered a rent was found in its side about 
eight inches long, and when this was cut out it was found also that the 
metal on one side was fully three-quarters of an inch thick ; on the other 
side it was barely one-quarter of an inch. This pipe was laid in soft, slatey 
rock, and the nature of the metal had been changed or softened by some 
occult agency, as its outer surface was soft and cutable as plumbago, and 
showed when cut a bright, smooth surface. The softening extended to the 
northward, north and south of the piece cut out, but how far could have 
been ascertained by trial pits only, and rush of work and lateness of the 
season prevented this from being done. The rent was on the thin side of 
the pipe. * * * Along the ragged edges of the rent the sound metal 
was not more than one-sixteenth of an inch thick at some points. 

On the western side of the harbor the heaviest leakage of the year was 
on the cement-lined pipe on Front Row and Winslow Street. In the first 
case there was a rent in the cement pipe about 15 inches long by one-quarter 
inch wide, and the water that flowed from this into an old sewer above it 
reduced the pressure on the low service area about 19 pounds. * * * The 
next on the same line of pipe was between Guilford and Winslow Streets, 
and also arose from inherent weakness, a large piece having been blown 
from the side when pressure was let on for fire on board the steam tug 
" Maggie M." 

The failure in Winslow Street took place under ordinary circumstances, 
and was, therefore, the result of decay. These and other experiences with this 
cement-lined pipe show that the time is not far distant when the greater 
part, if not the whole, will have to be renewed. 

I had hoped, when the year closed without serious accident to either of 
our leading mains, that this pleasing state of affairs would continue. But in 
this I have been disappointed by the bursting of the old 24-inch mains on 
the morning of February 16th, 1893. The pipe that caused this trouble was 
one of the first lines of 24-inch mains. * * * The ground in which it lay 
was gravelly brick clay, common to our city and neighborhood, and its 
drainage was good. 

The cause of rupture was not so apparent as in some former instances. 
It was found to be, when cut and examined, what is technically called 
"sided," the metal being of unequal thickness, that on the one side being 
barely three-quarters of an inch, while the other or opposite one was fully 
one and one-quarter inch. The rend was irregular, about seven feet long, 
and on the thin side of the pipe. A close inspection of the metal showed 
what seemed to be numerous minute air cells and a general want of homo- 
geneity in the metal. There were no large " blown " spots in any part of 
the pipe, but there were indications of " cold short " at several points. 

Whatever had been the cause, it had operated slowly, as the pipe was 
not in a position to be subject to " hammer " strains, and had been in daily 



424 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



use for 36 years. The outside surface of the pipe was free from decay. On 
the inner surface, however, between the accretions and the iron, there was 
a thin coating of what looked like black vegetable matter, and remained 
after the tubercles had been removed. Below this the iron was as bright 
and fresh as when first cast. How much of this was at the expense of the 
pipe could only be known by analysis, but it had a close resemblance to 
the exterior of pipes on which the softening process was distinctly 
marked. * * * 

This pipe was made in Glasgow, Scotland. * * * The tuberculous 
growths were pretty well distributed all around the interior of the pipe, and 
when a difference did exist, the under-sides had the greatest number. The 
largest had a base of about 1% inch and a heighth of about five-eighths of 
an inch. By this instance, as well as by many previous observations, five- 
eighths to three-quarters of an inch appears to be our maximum, or what is 
equivalent to a reduction in diameter of 1% to i)A inch. * * * The 
break began to manifest itself in the city about 7.30 A. M. by a loss of 
pressure at the office gauge and the loss of water on the summits. But the 
trouble was located by 9 A. M. * * * The broken pipe was isolated from 
the general supply and the pressure restored to within seven feet of what it 
was before the accident happened. The day was intensely cold and the 
ground frozen to a depth of about three feet, but by 10 P.M. the old pipe was 
cut out and a new piece inserted. — Water and Gas Review, August, 1893. 



TUBERCULATED AND LEAKY CAST-IRON WATER PIPES. 

Leaks in cast-iron mains have occurred during the past year in St. Johns, 
N. B., and Supt. Gilbert Murdock, M. Am. Soc. C E., states that the first of 
any importance was in a 4-inch main. Some air cells were found in the 
body of the metal, but these apparently did no harm so long as the outside 
covering or skin retained its normal density. But this underwent a soften- 
ing process as had happened in other cases, and finally a piece was blown 
from the side of the pipe, following the course of the air cells. The film of 
metal covering these air and sand holes was about one-eighth of an inch thick 
and could be cut easily by an ordinary knife. Its interior diameter was 
reduced about half an inch by tuberculation. 

Another instance of this kind of failure occurred with a six-inch main 
and was so badly sided that when the cracked piece was cut out the metal 
on one side was found to be three-fourths of an inch thick, while diametrically 
opposite, it was but one-fourth. The nature of the metal had been changed 
in some way so that the outer surface was soft and sectile like plumbago, 
showing a bright, smooth surface when cut. 

Another pipe which burst, was a 24-inch main. — Engineering Record, 
August 12th, fSpj. 



salem, massachusetts. 
Cast-Iron Pipe System Not To Be Depended Upon. 
The Legislative Committee on water has granted the request of Salem, 
Mass., to lay a new water main from the reservoir, through Beverly and 



TUBERCULATED CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 425 



across Bass River to North Salem, and issue water bonds to the amount of 
$150,000. Salem is willing that Beverly should have a separate main, pro- 
vided that the}' pay their proportionate part of the expense that was en- 
tailed in raising the shores of the lake. Whatever Beverly may do, Salem 
must have a new main, as the old cast-iron one is not to be depended upon, 
and its carrying capacity has been so much reduced by accretions to the 
inside of the pipe. — Salem {Mass.) Engineering News. 



syracuse, new york. 
The Syracuse Water Works Question. 

This case is an object lesson to water companies in several prominent 
phases. * * * 

The cement pipe in the present system may have done faithful work, 
but no engineer of experience would recommend its use in new construc- 
tion. According to the testimony in this case upon this much discussed 
question, it is proved that if this pipe is used as a part of a distribution sys- 
tem, liable to be disturbed by tapping and excavations, it has no place in 
modern water works. As to the phase of deterioration of cast-iron water 
pipe, it cuts no figure in this case for the simple reason that the deposits on 
the interior surface of the cast-iron pipes proved to be a protection as against 
any tubercular action or oxidization. — Fire and Water, Sept. 26th, 1S92. 

It appears that the writer of the above article would 
have water works companies and others interested in the man- 
agement of water works plants, believe that corrosions and de- 
posits of a like nature are a benefit rather than an injury to cast- 
iron water pipe. 

Following the above we give an extract from the same jour- 
nal, Fire and Water, and under the same date, Sept. 26th, 1891, 
referring " To the recent fire at Quebec, where some 200 persons 
were made homeless:" 



QUEBEC. 

If the newspaper reports of the recent fire at Quebec, by which some- 
thing like 200 persons were made homeless, is to be believed, there would 
seem to be great need of a prompt overhauling of the distribution system of 
the city. We are informed that the streams from the engines reached 
hardly ten feet from the nozzles, the explanation being that on Champlain 
Street there is a six-inch cast-iron pipe, and for seven hundred feet, one of 
four inches in diameter. Moreover, it is stated that these pipes are so cor- 
roded that there is hardly any passage left for water. It is not so very sur- 
prising that, even with Quebec's willing and well-officered fire department 
at hand, the flames swept away thirty buildings before they could be checked. 



426 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Apparatus and men are of but little use in stopping a fire without water. 
The citizens of Quebec have had many warnings of the danger that they are 
in by reason of the insufficient fire protection of the city. If they continue 
to let them go unheeded they need not be surprised at any day to find this 
city the scene of a disastrous conflagration. — Extract from the "Fire and 
Water" of Sept. 26th, iSgi. 

Condensing the above, we have a true explanation in their 
own words, " That these cast-iron pipes are so corroded that 
there is hardly any passage left for water, and, on account of 
the corrosions, that they could not furnish enough water to 
enable the engines to get up a pressure sufficient to throw the 
water ten feet from the nozzles." From this stand-point does 
the writer of the article on " The Syracuse Water Works Ques- 
tion " believe that deposits are a benefit rather than an injury 
to cast-iron water pipe ? 



One important fact is proved, that the superiority of a baked clay pipe, 
properly vitri6ed and glazed, is established over that of a cast-iron pipe in 
point of maintaining its interior surface free from the agencies that attack 
iron pipes and impair the velocity of the flow of water, as well as seriously 
affecting the cross section of area by accretions of surface deposits. — Fire 
and Water, Sept. 24, 1S92. 



MAINTENANCE OF CAST-IRON PIPE. 427 



MAINTENANCE OF CAST-IRON PIPE. 

ALBANY, NEW YORK. 

This system consists of 76^ miles of cast-iron pipe ; sizes 
from 36 inches to 4 inches. During the year 1883 there were 16 
breaks and 21 leaks on the sizes running from 30 inches to 4 
inches. The following is copied from official report of leaks and 
breaks in the city mains since 1872 : 

Year. Breaks. Leaks. 

1873 12 16 

1874 8 14 

1875 24 13 

1876 8 15 

1877 II 32 

1878 8 44 

1879 4 26 

1880 19 27 

1881 21 55 

1882 17 37 

1883 16 21 

Total 148 300 

Of the above leaks, from 1877 to 1883, inclusive, 68 were upon the 30- 
inch pumping main ; many of the leaks and breaks are upon the old water 
works mains, which are very thin, brittle, and easily broken. 

During 1883 the sum expended for labor in repairs was 
$1,570.59, of which $705.02, or 45 per cent., was expended for 
repairs to mains. 



BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. 

In this city the system consists of 316 miles of cast-iron pipe. 
The official report of December 31, 1884, mentions 421 leaks and 
breaks reported during the year on the cast-iron pipe, ranging in 
size from 2 to 40 inches. 

The 4-inch main in Bank Lane, between Calvert and Charles 
Streets, has given evidence on several occasions of its defective 
condition. It was, therefore, thought best to substitute a 6-inch 
pipe and take up this defective line of 4-inch cast-iron pipe. 

We obtain the above information from the official record. 



428 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The system of the Eastern Division contains 377.86 miles 
of cast-iron pipe. The number of breaks and leaks in the mains 
since 1870, as per official reports, is as follows: 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 



157 


1878 


IS5 


1879 


188 


1880 


153 


1881 


434 


1882 


203 


1883 


214 




109 





213 

211 
135 
145 
I70 
171 



Total 2,688 



Mains taken up and abandoned (sizes ranging from 4 inches to 24 
inches, all cast-iron) : 

1S79 3,36i feet 

1880 1,882 ,: 

1881 569 " 

1882 8,311 '• 

1883 10,341 " 



chicago, illinois. 

Cast-Iron Water Pipe Taken Up or Abandoned by the 
City of Chicago. 

Upon examination of the " Annual Reports of the Commis- 
sioners of Public Works of the City of Chicago," we find that 
the following quantities of cast-iron water pipe have been " taken 
up or abandoned " : 



Report 
e'd'gDc.31 


3" 
Feet. 


4" 
Feet. 


6" 
Feet. 


8" 
Feet. 


12" 
Feet. 


14" 
Feet. 


16" 
Feet. 


Com'r's Rep't 
Pages. 


1877 
1878 

1879 
1880 
1881 
1884 
1885 
1889 
1S90 
189] 
1892 


470 

450 

297 

3,996 

734 
2,128 

648 


1,264 

3,170 
5,852 
8,322 

13,139 
17,705 
27,040 

3,347 

r,oi4 

920 

13,963 


3,626 
550 
980 

6,670 

6,645 
732 

3,026 

9,329 


300 
649 
1,568 
250 
705 

1,241 


335 


7,950 


2,531 

8,633 


65, 91 
58,89 

49, 55 
120, 148 

54,8i 
99, 116, 167 
137, 192 
169, 250 

86, no 

85 
21, 96 


To'l feet 


8,723 


95,736 


31,558 


4,713 


335 


7,950 


11,164 



MAINTENANCE OF CAST-IRON PIPE. 429 



The following also appears on pages 332 and ^^^ of the 
seventeenth annual report of the Department of Public Works 
for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1892: 

Department of Public Works — Bookkeeper's Statement. 
Acc't Water Works Repairs. 
Paid for — 

Pipes and castings $71832 77 

Lead 1 ,919 69 

Coal 176 65 

Gaskets 19 09 

Repaying 710 18 

Sundries 548 85 

Damages 340 64 

Charged Water Fund $11, 547 87 

(The items for Lumber, Cartage and Labor is not included.) 
On page 41 of the Commissioner's report of 1878 we find the 
following: 

In June last one of the 36-inch mains leading from this engine was 
cracked about three-fourths of its circumference. The break occurred in- 
side the building. Respectfully, 

DeWiTT C. Creiger, 
Engineer North Pumping Works. 



CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

System of 209 miles of cast-iron pipe. Superintendent A. 
G. Moore, in December, 1880, stated that: 

In 1880 there were 150 breaks and 409 leaks in the mains, and the cost 
of repairs was $2,893.88 and $2,014.42, respectively, and that "the princi- 
pal break occurred on Thanksgiving evening, when the 20-mch main at the 
intersection of Wade Street and Central Avenue burst, the fracture in the 
pipe being six feet long by one-third of its circumference. A piece of the 
fractured part was tested and the tensile strength found to be 18,485 pounds 
to the square inch with a factor of safety of 32." 

In his report of 1883, he states that: 
For 1883 the number of breaks in mains was 305, and of leaks 321, and 
the cost for repairing the same was $2,343.93 for the 305 breaks, and 
$1,308.45 for the 321 leaks. 

Amount of pipe relaid and abandoned. 

In 1878 7,286 feet. 

In 1879 1,674 " 

In 1880 1,161 " 

In 1883 3,638 " 

[No records for 1881 and 1882.] 



430 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



DAYTON, OHIO. 

This system contains 36 miles of cast-iron pipe. The 
original works were built in 1869, since which time they have 
been largely extended and now consist of the amount of pipe 
above mentioned. The following is copied from the official 
report, showing the leaks and breaks in the street mains since 
1870, as well as a memorandum of the cast-iron pipe necessary 
to be taken up and replaced : 
Year. Breaks. Leaks. 

1970 7 5 

1871 

1872 3 5 

1873 3 IO 

1874 5 9 

1875 101 20 

1876 5 9 

1877 10 11 

1878 3 11 

1879 17 18 

1880 2 9 

1881 39 26 

1882 1 9 

1883 1 6 

Total 197 148 

The pipe taken up for the same period amounts to 3,099 feet. 



MILWAUKEE, WI SCON SIN". 

This system contains 99 miles of cast-iron pipe. The main 
works were constructed in 1872. During 1883 the record of 
splits, leaks and broken pipes is : 

6 inch mains. 6 

8 " " 2 

20 " " 2 

30 " " 3 

3 6 " " 1 

Total 14 



From the Annual Report of the Board of Water Commis- 
sioners of the City of Minneapolis, Minn., ending March 1st, 

1883: 

Main Repairs. 

Repairing breaks Sept. 13th, 1882, Oct. 6th, 1882, Nov. 4th, 1882, March 
2d, 1883, $216.45. 



LEAKY CAST-IRON WATER PIPE. 431 

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN". 

Chas. J. Trapschuh, Superintendent of distribution, reports 
the following leaks repaired in distributing mains for 1881 : 

11 leaks on 6-inch mains. 
8 leaks on 8-inch mains. 
4 leaks on 30-inch mains. 

1 leak on 36-iuch force main. 
1 hydrant pipe split. 

Also see Report of Board of Public Works for 1882, pages 
194— 195— 197 and 202. 

Summary of Leaks Repaired. 
27 leaks on 6 inch pipe. 

12 leaks on 8-inch pipe. 

1 leak on 12-inch pipe. 

2 leaks on 30-inch pipe. 
1 leak on 36-inch pipe. 



MONTREAL, CANADA. 

This system has 137 miles of cast-iron pipe. The official 
report of December 31, 1883, states: 

The last alteration to the distribution mains of the city were accom- 
plished. Replacing of the 6-inch main pipe on Dorchester Street by a 10- 
inch pipe extending from Beaver Hall to Monique and a 12-inch from Moni- 
que to Fort Street. There has also been laid a 10-inch pipe on Bousicours 
Street from Notre Dame to Commissioners Street, and another 10-inch main 
was laid in Panet Street from Dorchester to Commissioners Street, in place 
of the old main which had, from rust and deposit, become too small to 
afford proper protection against fire. 

Another old main which is often breaking is the 4-iuch of Juror Street 
from Ragonde Street to St. Lawrence. It should be replaced this year by a 
6-inch. In this way these old pipes will gradually disappear without the 
expense being felt too much by the city. 

The following is a report of repairs done to mains dnring the year 1883 ; 
also, repairs to distribution pipes, which, for the year just ended, have been 
more numerous than the 6 or 7 years previous, as the following will show : 

A great number of the leaks on main water pipes occurring last winter 
gave considerable trouble in tracing where the leak existed. For instance, 
at the corner of Craig and St. Gabriel Streets, where the pipe was found to 
be very thin on one side and corroded through, and which took the labor of 
4 men for 3 days each, also a valveman, to find and repair the leak ; at the 
corner of Cote and Craig Streets, the 3-inch main pipe was cracked all 
around, and it took a pipe-layer and the labor of 3 men for four days to find 
out and repair it. Grey Nun, near Common Street, took a pipe-layer and 
4 laborers 2 days each to find and repair the leak, the 4-inch main being 



432 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



split about 24 inches long, Hulton's Avenue, off Sherbrooke Street, the 4- 
inch main pipe was found broken all around, and it took a pipe-layer and 3 
laborers 2 days each to trace the leak and repair it. This pipe was found 
too large for the purpose required, and was taken up and replaced by a $- 
inch lead pipe. On Notre Dame Street West, 8 laborers were 4 days each, 
also a pipe-layer the same time, to dig and repair a leak on a 10-inch main 
water pipe, which was split from end to end, and a piece blown out of the 
bottom pipe, which measured 10 inches long and about 5 inches wide, and 
the pipe was found to be very thin on one side. On St. Martin Street 3 
laborers and a pipe-layer were for 5 days each digging an excavation about 
100 feet long (where the McAdam was very thick and, of course, hard frozen) 
to find a leak in the main pipe, and the appearance of the leak proved to be 
about 100 feet from where the leak really was, and then the main pipe was 
found to be broken across. On Common, west of King Street, there was a 
pipe-layer and 4 laborers for 6 days each searching for a leak on the main 
pipe, which was most difficult to trace, as the gushing sound of the water 
escaping was heard a good distance away from where the leak was found, 
and which proved to be a split in the pipe about 4 feet long ; also, a piece 
about 12 inches long blown out of the bottom. On Mayor Street, corner of 
Bleury, there was a pipe-layer and 5 men for 4 days each looking for a leak, 
which was on account of the 4-inch main pipe feeding Mayor Street breaking 
at each edge of the excavation, which was made for drain. I only mention 
here the leaks which caused the whole trouble to trace, as the time taken 
made it very expensive to repair them. But I could mention a great many 
more cases of serious leaks, such as the leak on the 30-inch main pipe on 
Sherbrooke, corner of Shuter Street, which took a pipe-layer and 13 men 4 
days each to trace and repair it ; also, a serious leak on St. Denis, near 
Ontario Street, on the 10-inch main, and another on Bousicours Street, 
corner of St. Louis Street, where the 10-inch pipe was badly broken. There 
were, during the year, 22 joints blown out on the 12-inch main on Welling- 
ton Street, between St. Etienne and the Grand Trunk Crossing. I need not 
mention the cause of those leaks, as that was fully explained in my report 
for the year 1882. 

During the year 10 joints were blown out on the 12-iuch main on 
McCord Street, and on Dorchester Street the 10-inch main from Beaver 
Hall Eastward, there were 12 joints re-calked. These joints all leaked 
principally on account of their not having lead enough in them when first 
laid. Altogether during the year we repaired one break on the 30-inch 
main, 4 on the 10-iuch main, 1 on the 8-inch main, 9 breaks on the 6-inch 
main, 23 breaks on the 4 inch main, making a total of 38 broken main pipes, 
and the number of joints re-calked were as follows : On the 12-inch main, 
32 ; on the 10-inch main, 16 ; on the 6-inch main, 20 ; and 17 on the 4-inch 
main. 



NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. 

The water works at this point contains a system of 144 
miles of cast-iron pipe. The official report for the year ending 
November 30, 1883, shows "repairs to street mains, $1,100.69." 



LEAKY CAST-iRON WATER PIPE. 433 



Of all the breaks that have occurred during the year, special 
mention may be made of one that occurred in the beginning of 
July, on the supply main No. i, laid in 1869, near the receiving 
reservoir at Belleville. The pipe lying very deep and near the 
ledge of rock, it took considerable time and labor to locate the 
break, which was found to be a split pipe, which was cut out 
and another one put in its place. 



NEW YORK CITY. 

This system contains 547 miles of cast-iron pipe. The 
yearly appropriation for the repairing and renewal of pipes, stop 
cocks, etc , with wages, is $170,000. In 1883 the official report 
shows that $197,065.30 were spent to repair 1,498 leaks and 
other defects in the pipe system, and for the nine months ending 
September 30, 1884, there was spent $165,885.26 for repairing 
1.077 defects and leaks in the pipe system. The leaks and de- 
fects in the pipe system are, of course, greater in winter than in 
summer; the average is about 360 every quarter, and there is 
an average force of 80 mechanics and laborers and 9 carts con- 
stantly employed under the direction of the Water Purveyor in 
making repairs to the pipe system. 



NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY. 
System of 20 miles cast-iron pipe, ranging from 16 inches 
to 4 inches; originally built in 1881. During the year 1883 there 
were: 

3 leaks in the 16-inch pumping main. 
2 leaks in the 12 inch pumping main. 
7 breaks in the street mains. 
9 leaks in the street mains. 
17 leaks in the 4-inch main on the railroad bridge. 

Out of the item of $1,256.83, total cost of annual repairs, 
$281.48, or 22.7 per cent., was for repairs to street mains. 



NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 
The water works system at this point consists of 67.6 
miles of cast-iron pipe. The works were constructed in 1876. 



434 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Repairs to breaks and leaks in the mains have cost the following 
money for the years named: 

1SS0 $292 45 

1SS1 936 26 

1882 434 54 

1883 577 4o 



ST. JOHN AND PORTLAND, NEW BRUNSWICK. 

System of 67^ miles of cast-iron pipe. The official report 
of December 31, 1883, states: 

Repairs to mains 35 

Length of digging 813 feet 

Mains frozen .... 147 

One case was the bursting of one of the old 24-inch mains on the Marsh 
Road, about 11 :30 P. M. on Sunday, July 22. This pipe had been in use since 
1857, and, excepting a few small air cells in the body of the metal at one 
point, there was no other apparent cause of weakness. The iron was of uni- 
form thickness, and the rent along its whole length manifested a clean, 
fresh surface, as if newly made. There was nothing in the appearance of 
the iron to indicate that it differed in quality from other parts of the line, 
and there had been no disturbance of stop cocks to interfere with the nor- 
mal currents of the mains. 



ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. 
The following items appear in the Third and Fourth Annual 
Reports of the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of 
St. Paul, Minn., under the bead of 

Disbursements. 
Repair xAccount. (1883. ) 

Page 7. Mains. Tabor $708.80 

Material. ... 19.10 

#727.90 

Page 9. Mains. Tabor #1,995-3° 

Material. . .. 60.71 

#2,056.01 

#2,783.91 for 1883 
Repair Account. 

Page 11. Mains. Tabor $3>5 OI -99 

Material. . .. 199.97 

fo.70i.96 

Page 12. Mains. Tabor #5,497.29 

Material .... 260.68 

$5,757-97 
#9,459.93 for 1885. 

Repairs of cast-iron mains for two years $12,243.84 



CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 435 



CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 

Cast-iron pipe scrap is a prominent commodity in the iron 
market; wrought-iron pipe scrap is a thing unheard of. 

Cast-iron pipe scrap, or junk, finds its way into the mar- 
ket by the thousands of tons and every pound of it means a loss 
to the purchaser of cast-iron pipe, either from the cracked, broken 
and imperfect pipe received, or when the pipe proves unfit for 
service. 

When the continued serviceability of wrought-iron pipe is 
mentioned, it is a favorite argument of the cast-iron pipe manu- 
facturers to claim that when cast-iron pipe has outlived its use- 
fulness, or proved inadequate for service required, it can be taken 
up and sold for " junk," thus netting a handsome percentage of 
the original cost. 

There is nothing in this theory, and if you will figure care- 
fully you will soon conclude that it cannot be/substantiated. In 
the first place, cast-iron pipe scrap never brings the same price 
as first-class cast scrap and sells according to condition, for from 
one-third to one-half less than good cast scrap. 

Now, estimate the cost of trench (which is very expensive) 
and the labor of unjointing this pipe, lifting it to side of trench; 
then carting it to shipping stations, and you will find it would 
not pay to disturb a line of cast-iron pipe after it had been once 
laid. 

The contrary can be said of Converse Joint wrought-iron 
pipe. We will simply give two illustrations: The old Bridge- 
water Gas Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., sold over $100,000 
worth of Converse Joint wrought-iron pipe, the territory giving 
out and the lines being no longer in use. The pipe was readily 
saleable and the work of taking it up and disposing of it was com- 
paratively a simple matter. Another case was that of an hydraulic 
mining company in New Mexico that had several miles of Con- 
verse Joint Pipe in use; the mines giving out, the pipe was taken 
up, after having done seven or eight years' service, and resold at 
prices which netted about 80 per cent, of the original cost. 

Owing to the foul and tuberculated condition of their cast- 
iron system, Pittsburgh has glutted the scrap dealers of that city 



436 




CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 437 



with cast-iron pipe junk, since the Fall of 1884, hundreds and 
hundreds of tons having been taken up. 

The " Cast-Iron Pipe Scrap" matter is a very delicate one 
with cast-iron pipe manufacturers and they never discuss it vol- 
untarily. 

Regarding the real value, etc., of this class of material, we 
submit copy of a letter received from Horace Crosby, Esq., 
Manager of the Republic Iron Works, of Pittsburgh, Pa: 

Republic Iron Works, 1 
Pittsburgh, Pa., June 1, 1893. ( 

National Tube Works Co. 

I am in receipt of your favor of 27th ult, on the subject of Cast-iron 
Scrap Water Pipe. 

This material is one of the regular commodities in our scrap-iron market, 
and sells for about $9 00 per gross ton. It is used by some foundries who 
make cheap castings, such as sash weights, etc., and in a limited way by 
some of our rolling mills in their puddling furnaces. It is only used for 
puddling, however, to a limited extent, as both quality and price operate 
against it, in comparison with new material. Its quality is inferior, owing 
to the fact that the pipe when originally made is from the cheapest grade of 
pig iron, and the length of time it has usually remained buried in the 
ground so tuberculates it that the dirt penetrates it as water does a sponge. 
In consequence of this it must be puddled, or worked, until the dirt is re- 
moved ; this takes more time than the same process with good iron would 
require. Consequently the percentage of loss in the furnace is very large 
as compared with it. 

It is very irregular in quality also, as it comes from so many different 
foundries originally, and this fault cuts a very important figure in rolling 
mills where uniform quality of product is important. 

It has been seven or eight years since we have used any of this mate- 
rial in our mills. At that time the city of Pittsburgh had a large quantity 
of it to sell, and I experimented with it in a great many ways before buyin°- 
a round lot. I had great opposition on the subject from all the practical 
men in the works, as they claimed such material was so poor as to be nearly 
worthless for our use. However, the results were fairly satisfactory, and we 
worked considerable of it at that time, as we were able to get it at a remark- 
ably low price at a time when pig iron was selling at a good figure. We 
have worked none of it since then, as the price of pig iron has gradually 
fallen in the market, while the scrap iron has not proportionately decreased 
in value. 

Pig iron is now selling at $12.00 per gross ton, and the cast iron pipe 
scrap at f 9.00 per gross ton. On the former we lose two per cent, in working 
and on the latter twenty per cent. 

You can therefore see that with so little difference in the price between 
the two articles, it is no object for us to work the scrap iron and take our 
chances for irregular results in product. The latter, however, is a staple 
article in the market for mill and foundry use, and if the price of pig iron 



488 



wwm^^ ~ 










*M 



CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 439 



should advance without a proportional increase in the value of scrap iron, 
we should very likely commence to use the latter in limited quantities. 
(Signed) Horace Crosby. 



CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 

Cast-iron pipe scrap is by no means confined to second-hand 
pipe — that is, pipe that has been in service. On the contrary a 
large proportion of the cast-iron pipe scrap is new, sometimes 
being removed directly from the cars or the testing yards to the 
scrap pile. Some of this loss, of course, may be borne by the 
manufacturer, but a large part of the burden falls upon the 
municipality, inasmuch as they are unable to examine the pipe 
until they shall have receipted to the railroad company for the 
pipe "In good condition." Another large proportion is new 
pipe cut out of the line, and removed from the trenches, as a 
great many of the cracks and splits do not develope until the test 
is applied. The following illustrated letter regarding the 1893 
scrap auction at Chicago will be particularly interesting: 

Chicago, Ile., June 22d, 1893. 
E. C. Converse, Gen. Man. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

I send you by express to-day four photographs [hereinafter reproduced. 
— E. C. C. ,] showing a portion of the " Cast-iron Scrap Water Pipe" in the 
Ashland Avenue Pipe Yards, Chicago, which has been advertised for sale 
for the past three months in the Chicago Mail, the official paper of the 
City of Chicago (see advertisement herewith), and for which proposals 
were received by H. J. Jones, Commissioner of Public Works of the City of 
Chicago, on the 15th inst. 

You will notice that the advertisement is over the name of " E. Louis 
Kuhns, Commissioner of Public Works." Mr. Kuhns was Commissioner 
under the administration of Mayor Washburn, but when Carter H. Harri- 
son, the present Mayor, took charge of affairs he appointed Mr. Jones Com- 
missioner of Public Works, and the advertisement of Commissioner Kuhns 
was permitted to stand. 

As to why this advertisement was permitted to run for 90 days I cannot 
say, unless it was to be certain of catching the eye of a possible purchaser 
that would pay the very highest price for the stuff. I know that when I 
was with Dennis, Long & Company they had large quantities of scrap water 
pipe to sell from the Chicago Pipe Yards, and it was difficult to get what 
might be called a fair price for their scrap pipe (cut ends, split pieces, etc.,) 
and I could seldom induce a fouiidryman to purchase the second time, for 
the reason (as they stated) that cast-iron pipe scrap interfered with their 
regular work, and the castings made with a mixture in which there was a 
quantity of cast-iron pipe scrap were very unsatisfactory. 



440 




CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 441 



Here is the advertisement as it appeared in The Chicago Mail, Thurs- 
day, April 6, 1S93 : 

Scrap, Wrought, and Cast Iron, Brass, Etc. 

FOR SALE. 



Sealed proposals will be received by the commis- 
sioners of public works of the city of Chicago until 
11 o'clock a.m. Thursday, June 15, 1893, for the pur- 
chase of scrap, wrought and cast iron, brass bor- 
ings, brass castings, lead dross, and sheet steel, 
approximately the following amounts : 

AT NORTH PUMPING STATION. 
1,500 lbs. lead dross. 
2,000 lbs. wrought scrap iron 
30,000 lbs. cast scrap iron. 
2,000 lbs. old grate bars. 

5 000 lbs. brass borings. 
1,000 lbs. brass castings. 

AT LA SALLE AND RIVER. 

6 tons wrought scrap iron. 
1 second-hand boiler. 

AT ASHLAND AVENUE PIPE YARDS. 
100 tons scrap cast water pipe. 

AT CHICAGO AVENUE PIPE YARDS. 
50 tons scrap cast water pipe. 
AT FIFTY-FIRST STREET AND STEWART 
AVENUE PIPE YARD. 
50 tons scrap cast water pipe. 

AT PARK ROW. 
14 tons scrap sheet steel. 
50 tons cast scrap iron at the various city bridges. 

Said material must be removed by purchaser with- 
in five days from the date of acceptance by the city 
of such proposal, and sufficient bond filed for the 
faithful performance of contract. The weight must 
be determined by the certificate of the city weigher, 
upon which cash payment must be made by the 
purchaser. The weighing of such material must be 
at the expense of the purchaser. 

Proposals must be made out upon blanks fur- 
nished at said office and be addressed to said de- 
partment, indorsed " Proposals for the Purchase of 
Wrought and Cast Scrap Iron," and be accompanied 
with $1,000 in money or a certified check for the 
same amount on some responsible bank doing busi- 
ness in the city of Chicago, and made payable to the 
order of the commissioner of public works. 

The commissioner of public works reserves the 
right to reject any or all bids. 

Proposals will not be received after the hour above 
named. 

E. LOUIS KUHNS, 
Commissioner of Public Works. 



The photographs herewith were taken by Alex. J. W. Copeland, Chicago, 
the day before the scrap was sold. 

No. x. — View taken from the top of pile of scrap cast-iron water pipe 
shown in No. 3 and only shows a portion of the pipe in the pile. The artist 
then put a ladder against the carpenter shop and got on the top of the build- 
ing shown in the background, for the purpose of taking a view of the south 
end of this pile, as it was composed largely of cast-iron pipe of the larger 
sizes (24-inch and 36-inch) and also the piece of 36-inch cast-iron water pipe 



442 




CAST-IRON PIPE SCRAP. 443 



that burst at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Charles Place, Chicago, 
December I2th, 1892, causing damage estimated at from 190,000 to $150,000. 
[Full particulars of the break, and the damage done, will be found on 
page 326-E. C. C] 

No. 2. — The piece of burst 36-inch cast-iron water pipe will be noticed 
at the right of the illustration, broken side uppermost, lying back near the 
large pile of pipe, the spigot end being shown fully, the break following on 
towards the right. Please compare it with the large photo of the burst 36- 
iuch pipe, which was taken while the burst 36-inch pipe was lying on Fifth 
Avenue in December last. 

While the artist was getting on the roof, the workmen were wheeling 
shavings out of the carpenter shop and piling them close to the big pipe, 
and, before he could get the negative showing the south end of the scrap 
pile, the shavings were ignited, and a view from that quarter had to be 
abandoned. I then took position behind the scrap heap in the foreground, 
and the artist did the rest. 

No. 3. — Shows the pile of cast pipe scrap at the south end of the pumping 
station, which is piled up carefully and very closely, there being a few pieces 
of hydrant " well-covers " on the top and at the side of the pile. 

No. 4. — vShows a pile of condemned pipe (142 pieces). While examining 
this pile of pipe Wednesday morning, June 14th, 1893, the foreman of the 
Ashland Avenue Pipe Yard said to me : 

This pipe is all condemned ; it is all split and broken, as you see. It is all Dennis, 
Long's 6 and 8-inch pipe, and many pieces of it burst in the testing machine before it had 
the full pressure on and before it was struck with the hammer. This pipe has all accu- 
mulated within the last five or six weeks, and we haven't had time to cut it yet. You 
would be surprised to see this pipe give out in the testing machine — one piece after another 
right along without stopping — as many as 25 or 26 pieces giving out one after another 
before a piece would stand the test, and we are not testing it up to 250 pounds, either. 
We notified Long of the way his pipe was going, and one of their men came here and 
watched the test for two or three days, but we kept right on testing while he was here 
just the same as we do right along, and he said our test was a fair one, and that he would 
so inform Mr. Long. All the scrap pipe in this yard has accumulated within a year. 

The letters " D. D. & Co." and "C. C. W. W." can be plainly seen on 
the hub ends of the condemned pipe in view No. 4. 

By reference to the advertisement it will be seen that there were two 
other lots of scrap cast water pipe for sale. One lot of 50 tons at Chicago 
Avenue pipe yards and another lot of 50 tons at Fifty-first Street and 
Stewart Avenue pipe yards. I did not get photographs of these two lots. 

I was present at the office of the Commissioner of Public Works when 
the bids were opened at 11 130 A. M., June 15th, for the 100 tons of cast scrap 
water pipe at Ashland Avenue pipe yards ; 50 tons of cast scrap water pipe 
at Chicago Avenue pipe yards, and 50 tons of cast scrap water pipe at Fifty- 
first Street and Stewart Avenue pipe yards. The following bids for the 
scrap w T ere received and opened by Commissioner Jones : 

1st Lot. 2d Dot. 3d Dot. 

Swarts Iron & Metal Works $9 10 $9 10 $8 60 

S. Morris & Co 9 35 9 35 9 35 

All per ton of 2,000 lbs. at yards. 

The scrap was sold to S. Morris & Co. at $9.35 per net ton. 



444 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Much of this scrap consisted of cut ends of new pipe right from the 
foundrv, the pipe having been broken in transit and in the testing machines 
in the city yard, and should, therefore, have commanded a fair price, but 
by reason of its inferior quality was sold for but $9.35 per net ton. Cast-iron 
pipe scrap is always sold at the very lowest price, as there is a tremendous 
amount of dirt, cinder and other undesirable substances in it. It is a regular 
article of merchandise, and what comes out of the ground is full of tubercu- 
latum and other conditions of unserviceability. 

From statistics before me, I find that the National Tube Works Co., in 
its rolling mill departments, have purchased hundreds and thousands of tons 
of cast-iron pipe scrap to be used (a little at a time, by reason of its inferior 
quality) in the manufacture of common muck bar, and I have no doubt but 
that other mills throughout the country have done the same. 

"Why is it that the engineering journals of the country barely notice the 
matter of breaks or bursts in a cast-iron pipe distributing system ? Is it 
because such things are expected of cast-iron pipe ? Take, for instance — I 
will mention but two of the most important breaks that have occurred 
within the last ten months — the 36-inch cast-iron water main that burst at 
Fifth Avenue and Charles Place in Chicago, December 12th, 1892, under a 
pressure of 30 pounds per square inch, causing thousands upon thousands of 
dollars' worth of damage ; the other the "four breaks in the great 48-inch 
cast-iron water main of the Brooklyn water system," as described and illus- 
trated in the New York Herald of January 21st, 1893. Tittle or no attention 
was paid to them by the journals devoted almost entirely to water works 
matters. The Engineering News did mention the former in an article con- 
sisting of three lines in the issue of December 22d, 1S92, viz.: 

A 36-in. water main burst recently in Chicago, flooding cellars and doing considerable 
damage. No satisfactory explanation of the cause of the break is given. 

But three lines in the item concerning a burst cast-iron water main 
that did damage variously estimated at from $100,000 to $120,000. But if 
one foot of wrought-iron pipe was lifted from the ground and replaced by 
reason of corrosion or any defect, there would be a hue and cry throughout 
the entire United States by reason thereof ; but there are tons upon tons 
upon tons upon tons of cast-iron pipe sold regularly for junk, month after 
month and year after year, published in the newspapers and flaunted under 
the noses of anxious couucilmen, without anything being thought of the 
case. 

(Signed) A. J. Guilford. 



CAST-IRON PIPE WEIGHTS. 445 



CAST-IRON PIPE WEIGHTS. 

With a view to obtaining correct data regarding the weights 
of a few sizes of cast-iron pipe, which would be considered 
reasonably safe when subjected to a minimum pressure of 200 
pounds per square inch, our Chicago branch house made a few 
inquiries, with the following result: 

National Tube Works Co. 

The following weights of pipe I deem sufficiently strong for a working 
pressure of 200 pounds : 

10-inch pipe 800 pounds to the length. 

8-inch pipe 650 pounds to the length. 

6-inch pipe 450 pounds to the length. 

4-inch pipe 300 pounds to the length. 

(Signed) A. M. Studer, 

Supt. Peoria (111. ) Water Works. 



National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of the 21st inst., I would say that the tenacity of iron 
pipe castings is so variable, ranging from 16,000 to 29,000 pounds per square 
inch, that I feel somewhat diffident in replying to your interrogatory. How- 
ever, I should not feel safe in recommending pipes to withstand a pressure 
of 200 pounds of less weight than the following : 

4-inch pipe 25 pounds per foot. 

6-inch pipe 50 pounds per foot. 

8-inch pipe 70 pounds per foot. 

12-inch pipe 1 10 pounds per foot. 

These weights would be more than sufficient to withstand the static 
pressure. But we have to provide for occasional water hammer. Hence I 
prefer the foregoing. Our highest pressure is 160 pounds, and our 4-inch 
pipe is 22 pounds ; our 6-inch, 38 pounds ; oar 8-inch, 48 pounds, and our 
12-inch, 85 pounds. 

(Signed) W. C. Stripe, 

Secy, and Engr., Keokuk, 111. 



National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to yours of the 21st inst., would say that cast-iron water pipe, 
in my judgment, to stand the pressure you name — 200 pounds — should not 
be less than : 



446 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



4-inch pipe 31 pounds per foot. 

6-inch pipe 42^ pounds per foot. 

8-inch pipe 68 pounds per foot. 

12-inch pipe ... 117 pounds per foot. 

(Signed) Charles Hood, 

Supt. and Engr., Burlington, la. 



National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry as to what I consider safe weights for cast-iron 
pipe which is to be used under a working pressure of 200 pounds per square 
inch, would say that after a great many years experience, the following 
would be my judgment as the weights proper to use. 

12-inch pipe 90 pounds per foot. 

6-inch pipe 38 pounds per foot. 

8-inch pipe 50 pounds per foot. 

4-inch pipe 25 pounds per foot. 

Would say that in our City of Minneapolis, where we work with the 
direct pressure system for fire service, they are using as near as possible to 
these weights. 

(Signed) G. E. Beach, H. E., 

Gen'l Manager N. W. Water and Gas Supply Co., 

Minneapolis, Minu. 

National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry in regard to 4-inch, 6-iuch, S-inch and 12-inch 
pipe : 

It will require St. Louis " Standard B " pipe to stand a pressure of 200 
pounds constant pressure per square inch. The weights per foot are as 
follows : 

4-inch pipe 25^ pounds. 

8-inch pipe 54 pounds. 

6-inch pipe 38 pounds. 

12-inch pipe 95 pounds. 

(Signed) John W. Harrison, Sec'y, 

Shickle, Harrison and Howard Iron Company, St. Louis, Mo. 



National Tube Works Co. 

In my opinion, based on experience, I would not recommend cast-iron 
pipe of less weight per foot than the following, for water works use : 

4-inch pipe 24 pounds. 

8-inch pipe 57 pounds. 

6-inch pipe 36 pounds. 

10-inch pipe 70 pounds. 

12-inch pipe 85 pounds. 

I think these weights are safe at 200 pounds pressure. 

(Signed) Geo. H. Chandler, 

Eng'r. and Sup't. Kalamazoo, Mich. 



CAST-IRON PIPE WEIGHTS. 447 



WEIGHTS, BREAKS, AND TUBERCULATION OF CAST-IRON 
WATER PIPES. 

New England Water Works Association. 

The New England Water Works Association held an adjourned meeting 
at Young's Hotel, Boston, on Friday afternoon, February 16, with President 
George E. Batchelder, of Worcester, Mass., in the chair; R. C. P. Cogge- 
shall, of New Bedford, Mass., Secretary, and a large and enthusiastic attend- 
ance numbering nearly ioo members and visitors. After enjoying the usual 
dinner, the members were called together for a business meeting at 2:30. 

Albert F. Noyes, Assistant Chief Engineer Massachusetts State Board 
of Health, gave an account of tests that had been made in 1884, to deter- 
mine the strength of water pipes of different makes and different weights, 
and of further tests conducted by himself in 1885, from which tables had 
been prepared, showing weights, thickness, etc., of cast-iron pipes. These 
weights varied considerably, as shown by the following figures : 

6-iuch pipe varied from 2S to 48 pounds per foot. 

8-inch pipe varied from 42 to 63 pounds per foot. 
10-inch pipe varied from 56 to 79 pounds per foot. 
12 inch pipe varied from 75 to 109 pounds per foot. 
36-inch pipe varied from 465 to 492 pounds per foot. 

The table shows great variations in weights of pipes of the same 
diameters. In the tests referred to as having been made in 1885, 6 lengths 
of 6-inch pipe, and 6 lengths of S-inch cast iron pipe were used, and these 
pipes had been cast at different foundries, and under contracts made at 
different times, so that they represented, as far as possible, a fair average 
run of such pipes. The tests, which were to determine bursting strength, 
were made at Watertown, Mass., and the pipes were designated by numbers. 

Before being tested the pipe was prepared, or dressed, but the bursting 
strength of the pipe was not affected by this dressing. The lines of the 
breaks in the different pipes varied somewhat, but while the 6-inch pipe 
broke by a simple rupture, in the case of the 8-inch pipe pieces actually flew 
out from the break. The fractures showed granular, granular with blow- 
holes, and in certain cases a spongy texture. 

The thickness to withstand pressures was determined by the Shedd 
formula, and the range of thickness was from .58 to .62 inch. 

The theoretical factor of safety is 15 to 18, and it is a question whether 
the weights of pipes in the various water works can be safely reduced. 

TUBERCULATION. 

Speaking of water pipe, Mr. Noyes referred to a large cast-iron pipe 
which had been broken and disclosed a large amount of tuberculation, and 
he exhibited samples of these tubercles. In the case of this special pipe — 
which had been in use but ten years — these tubercles showed a thickness of 
five-eighths inch. As this formation of tubercles greatly reduces the 
capacity of the pipe, the need is shown of figuring the diameter of cast-iron 
water pipe for actual service much larger than would otherwise be necessary. 



448 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



In answer to a question, Mr. Noyes stated that the theoretical weights 
of the pipes tested for bursting strength were : 

6-inch pipe, 428 pounds for 12 feet. 
8-inch pipe, 623 pounds for 12 feet. 

In the tests, diameters of the pipes were measured by calipers and the 
pressure by pounds per square inch. 

How far tuberculation may take place in the different grades of iron has 
not yet been determined, that is, it is not known whether or not hard and 
soft iron will be affected to the same extent by this corrosion. — Engineering 
Record, February 24, iSgj. 



COST OF LAYING CAST-IRON PIPE. 449 



COST OF LAYING CAST-IRON PIPE. 

In connection with other data already given covering 
Wrought-Iron Pipe vs. Cast-iron Pipe, the following authentic 
facts from the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Water Works 
Department will be useful, especially those relating to the cost 
of laying cast-iron pipe. 

The following are exact copies : 

Office; of Supt. of Water Works, ) 
Pittsburgh, Pa., May 15th, '88. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiries relative to the amount of cast-iron pipe re- 
newed in this city within the past three years, I would state that we have 
renewed as follows : 

69 tons 4 in. 
484 



270 
197 

755 
98 



6 in. 

8 in. 
10 in. 
12 in. 
14 in. 



There still remains about 600 tons of various sizes which must be re- 
newed in the near future. 

If you desire I can send you the cost of lead and laying. 
(Signed) Yours respectfully, 

Geo. H. Browne, Supt. 



Office of Supt. of Water Works, \ 
Pittsburgh, Pa., May 18th, '88. \ 
National Tube Works Co. 

The enclosed schedule gives you all the information in my possession 
in regard to pipe-laying : 

In averaging the amount of lead used, per joint, for all sizes, divide the 
length by 12 and add 10 per cent. ; the quotient will be the number of joints, 
which, divided into the number of pounds of lead, will give the average for 
each joint. 

Where calking was performed \>y contract I have given you price, and 
where performed by days' labor I have given you time and cost per diem. 

If you desire further information and I can give it to you, you shall 
have the same at as early a date as possible. 

The following schedule shows cost of laying cast-iron water pipe : 



450 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Davis Street. — Paved with cobble. 299 ft. of 4-in. 

26 days labor, at $1 50 — $39 00 

2 days foreman, at 2 50 — 5 00 

299 feet calking, at 02 — 5 98 



Total.. 
Lead used, 330 lbs. 
This equals 13 lbs. per joint. 



Trent Street. — Unpaved. 619 ft. of 4-in. 

39 days labor, at $1 50— $58 50 

3 days foreman, at 2 50 — 7 50 

619 feet calking, at 02 — 12 38 

Total $78 38 

Lead used, 660 lbs. 

This equals 12)4 lbs. per joint. 



Chauucey Street. — Unpaved. 248 ft. of 4-in. 

27 days labor, at $1 50 — $40 50 

2 days foreman , at 2 50 — 5 00 

248 feet calking, at 02 — 4 96 

Total $50 46 

Lead used, 330 lbs. 

This equals 16 lbs. per joint. 



Herbert Alley. — Unpaved. 492 ft. of 4 in. 

28 days labor, at $1 50 — $42 00 

2 days foreman, at 2 50 — 5 00 

492 feet calking, at 02 — 9 84 

Total $56 84 

Lead used, 440 lbs. 

This equals 11 lbs. per joint. 



High Street. — Removing old pipe and relaying new ; paved. 719 ft. of 
6 in. 

96 days labor, at $1 50 — $144 00 

6 days foreman, at 2 50 — 15 00 

6 days calking, at 2 00 — ■ 12 00 

Total $171 00 

Lead used, 1,290 lbs. 

This equals 21 }4 lbs. per joint. 



COST OF LAYING CAST-IRON PIPE. 451 



Second Avenue. — Paved with cobble. 334 ft. of 6 in. 

44 days labor, at $1 50 — $66 00 

3 days foreman, at. . 2 50— 7 50 

3 days calking, at 2 00 — 6 00 

Total $79 50 

Lead used, 530 lbs. 

This equals 19 lbs. per joint. 



Ferry Street. — Paved with cobble ; removing old pipe and relaying 
new. 1 179 ft. of 6 in. 

130 days labor, at $1 50 — $195 00 

5 days foreman, at 2 50 — 12 50 

5 days calking, at 2 00 — 10 00 

Total $217 50 

Lead used, 1580 lbs. 

This equals 16^ lbs. per joint. 



Diamond Street. — Paved with cobble ; removing old pipe and relaying 
new. 279 ft. of 6-in. 

26 days labor, at $1 50 — $39 00 

3 days foreman, at 2 50 — 7 50 

3 days calking, at 2 00— 6 00 

Total $52 50 

Lead used, 330 lbs. 

This equals 14^3 lbs. per joint. 



Fourth Avenue.— Paved with cobble. Removing old pipe and relaying 
new. 706 ft. 6 in. of 6-in. 

71 days labor, at $1 50 — $106 50 

3 days foreman, at 2 50 — 7 50 

3 days calking, at 2 00 — 6 00 

Total $120 00 

Lead used, 1180 lbs. 

This equals 20 lbs. per joint. 

Keating's Alley. — Paved with cobble. 216 ft. of 4-in. 

24 days labor, at $1 50 — $36 00 

2 days foreman, at 2 50 — 5 00 

216 feet calking, at 02 — 4 32 

Total $45 32 

Lead used, 220 lbs. 

This equals 12^ lbs. per joint. 



452 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Ross Street. — Paved with cobble. Removing old pipe and relaying 
new. 1,473 ft. 6 in. of 8-in. 

190 days labor, at $1 50 — $285 00 

8 days foreman, at 2 50 — 20 00 

8 days calking, at 2 00 — 16 00 

Total $321 00 

Lead used, 3080 lbs. 

This equals 25 lbs. per joint. 



Franklin Street. — Paved with cobble. Removing old and re-laying 
new. 1639 ft. of 10-in. 

256 days labor, at . $1 50 — $384 00 

13 days foreman, at 2 50 — ■ 32 50 

13 days calking, at 2 00 — 26 00 

Total $442 50 

Lead used, 4820 lbs. 

This equals 35 # lbs. per joint. 

Smithfield Street. — Paved with block stone. Removing old and re-lay- 
ing new. 2924 ft. of 10-in. 

697 days labor, at $1 50 — $1,045 5° 

32 days foreman, at 2 50— 80 00 

2924 feet calking, at 03 — 87 72 

Total $i, 2I 3 22 

Lead used, 10,270 lbs. 

This equals 42 lbs. per joint. 

Penn Avenue. — Paved with cobble. Removing old pipe and re-laying 
new. 11,699 ft. of 12-in. 

2,297 days labor, at $1 50 — $3,445 50 

73 days foreman, at 2 50 — 182 50 

11,699 f eet calking, at 03 — 350 97 

Total $3,978 97 

Lead used, 36,815 lbs. 
This equals 37^ lbs. per joint. 
(Signed) 




&oaj$ 




COST OF LAYING CAST-IRON PIPE. 453 



The catalogues of the cast-iron foundries — take, for instance, 
the 1885 edition of the Cincinnati and Newport Iron and Pipe 
Company, Newport, Ky. — give the weights of lead and yarn per 
joint, as follows: 

4 in 6.32 lbs. 

6 in 8.68 lbs. 

8 in 11.03 lbs. 

10 in 13. 53 lbs. 

12 in 15-88 lbs. 

Now, theoretically these weights might do, but here we have 
a record officially, from the City of Pittsburgh, giving the facts 
and showing the enormous differences between the published and 
the actual amounts of lead and yarn required to make cast-iron 
joints. Of course allowance must be made for wastage, but the 
vast difference and the large amount of lead and yarn required 
in actual practice to make a cast-iron joint is due to the size and 
construction of the cast-iron bell and the frequency with which 
the lead runs past the yarn and into the pipe. This great difference 
between theory and practice cannot all be wastage; practice has 
demonstrated that it is not. Quantities of lead run inside the 
cast-iron pipes, so that in addition to the data covering friction, 
this lead inside the pipe at joints causes just that much more of 
an obstruction. 

Take these official figures from Pittsburgh and consider the 
actual cost per mile — -440 joints of cast-iron pipe per mile— for 
lead and yarn, and notice the saving in favor of Converse Joint 
Pipe. 

In addition to the above figures on this matter of lead, we 
have secured the following facts as to the amounts of lead used 
in laying cast-iron pipe in and about Pittsburgh. Sizes: 14-inch, 
16-inch, 24-inch, 30-inch. 

Published Weights. Actual Weights. 

14 in . . 18.67 lbs. . . 40 lbs. 

16 in . . 21.03 ^s. . . 60 lbs. 

24 in . . 31.04 lbs. . . no lbs. 

30 in . . 38.17 lbs. . . 150 lbs. 

These latter comparative weights were furnished us from 
carefully kept records of work done. 



454 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Chicago, Ili^., September ist, 1S93. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. and G. M. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

I have Benjamin C. Smith's catalogue No. 6, of March i, 1893, and 
his letter of August 26th, 1S93, the former giving description and illustra- 
tion of "D. W. French's Patent Pipe Cutting Machine," and the latter 
the prices of the different sized machines. This machine has been very 




Cut Showing No. 1 Machine Attached to 8-Inch Cast-Iron Water 
Main Pipe. 



extensively advertised in the engineering journals the past season, and 
it is claimed that it will accomplish " a revolution in the ctitting of cast- 
iron pipe for water and gas." 

That the loss to the city, town or other consumer by reason of cracked, 
broken, or burst cast-iron pipe is very great, is again evidenced by this, 
"the latest pipe cutting machine " placed on the market. It seems to be 
the "very latest device " for the purpose. 



COST OF LAYING CAST-IRON PIPE. 455 



Users of cast-iron pipe will certify that there is always more or less 
cast-iron pipe received with every shipment that is either split or broken in 
two or more pieces ; that much of the loss on account of such defects has to 
be borne by themselves, for the reason that the transportation companies 
refuse to permit the pipe to be unloaded and inspected until the consignee 
has given a receipt for the pipe as being ' in good order and condition," 
thus precluding the validity of claims against the transportation company 
for damages ; also the laying of cracked pipe in the trenches, especially 
where the pipe has been laying in the sun along the streets where the 
trenches are to be opened ; the cracks being covered by the melted tar- 
coating ; the laying and connecting of the split pipe in the trenches, not- 
withstanding the failure to discover the cracks, and then, when the mains 
are filled with water, and the pressure applied, leaks appear, in many cases 
to such an extent that it requires days, and sometimes weeks (the latter can 
be cited), to make the necessary repairs. Notwithstanding the great care 
exercised by some of the manufacturers of cast-iron pipe, in loading their 
shipments, a great deal of cast-iron pipe is received in a damaged condition 
at destination, and how to save as much of such pipe as possible has been 
the great desire of engineer, contractor, and consumer. Many methods 
have been employed, and many machines designed and constructed with 
this end in view, and this " latest " (French's) machine will, it is claimed, 
accomplish the great "revolution." The following is a copy of the letter 

above referred to : 

New York City, Aug 26, 1893. 
Mr. A.J. Guilford, c/o National Tube Works Co. 
I can supply you 

No. o, Divided French Pipe Cutter for 4 and 6-inch pipe % 150 co 



No. 1, 
No. 2, " 
No. 3, 
No. 4, " 
No. 5, 
Discount to you, 20 per cent. 



" 4, 6, and 8-inch pipe 17500 

" 10, 12, 14, 16-inch pipe 250 00 

" 18, 20, 22, and 24-inch pipe 750 00 

" 30 and 36-inch pipe i.oco 00 

" 40, 42, and 48-inch pipe 1,30000 

Yours, &c, 

(Signed) Bent. C. Smith. 



It will be seen that the total cost of the six machines necessary to cut 
the different sizes of pipe, aggregates $3,625, or a discount of 20 % would 
make the net cost $2,900. Is not the above a strong argument in favor of 
the cheapness ( ?) of cast-iron pipe ? 

That there is so much cast-iron pipe cracked and broken, that before it 
can be made use of it must be cut and trimmed, and that it is economy for 
the contractor or consumer to purchase expensive machines for cutting the 
pipe, machines that will cost $2,900 (I give the lowest cost), and this, it is 
claimed by, or in the circular, will insure a saving in the cost of cutting but 
one piece each of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 24-inch cast-iron pipe (14 
men at 25 cents per hour) $4.10, besides "the actual saving on cracked pipe 
of $17.45." 

I fear that the maker of the machine, or the author of the catalogue, 
is inexperienced in the matter of cutting cast iron pipe, for he says on the 
third page of the catalogue : 

To cut off a cracked pipe, move the machine along to the point where the crack ceases, 
and not a foot behind the crack, as per old method • by so doing the cost of 1 foot of pipe is 
saved every time a cracked pipe is cut, which on large pipe is an important item. 



456 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Practical experience has demonstrated that " the point where the crack 
ceases " in a cast-iron pipe cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy to 
insure safety in cutting the cast-iron pipe at a " point where the end of the 
crack can be seen," hence, to be certain that the pipe will not have to be cut 
a second and perhaps a third time after it has been laid in the trench, 
and then, in many cases, thrown away entirely and another pipe used in its 
place, it is advisable to cut the pipe at least " a foot behind the crack, as per 
the old method." 

I send you one of the catalogues descriptive of this, " A Revolution in 
the Cutting of Cast-iron Pipe for Water and Gas." 

A. J. Guilford. 



SPECIFICATIONS FOR CAST-IRON COATED WATER PIPE. 457 



SPECIFICATIONS 

FOR 

CAST-IRON COATED WATER PIPE. 

By THOMAS W. YARDEY, Chicago, Ii*. 



A Paper Read at the Washington Meeting of American Institute 
of Mining Engineers, February, 1890. 



In many years experience as a maker and purchaser of cast-iron coated 
pipe, I have never met with any standard form of specifications for such. 
Each water works company employing a hydraulic engineer has, under his 
direction, prepared complete specifications for the particular conditions 
required, but I cannot find that any two are alike, and each foundry, in 
bidding for the supply of such pipe, makes the price to cover the conditions 
required. I therefore have the honor of offering to the Institute a form of 
specifications for cast-iron coated water pipe that will be found useful to 
water works companies and others requiring pipe of this kind. The con- 
ditions are all reasonable, and can be carried out by makers without 
additional cost, and with advantage to purchasers. 

Section 1 gives the kind of pipe, with its general characteristics. 

Section 2 specifies that neutral pig-iron shall be used, since such iron 
possesses the strength required, and is uniform in shrinkage. 

Section 5, requiring makers to give the brands of pig iron used in the 
cupola, is intended to guard against the use of cinder- iron. The character- 
istics of the ores used in blast furnaces give to each its reputation, and the 
furnaces using cinder are all well known. 

Section 7, providing that the shell of each pipe shall be measured for 
thickness throughout its entire length, enables the inspector to determine 
whether there are thin places near the middle of the pipe, where such 
imperfections are most likely to occur. An inexpensive instrument adapted 
to such measurement has been devised. 

Section 8 provides for a test bar from which to determine the transverse 
strength of the iron. This bar is convenient in form, can be made with 
very little cost to the maker, and will give the most satisfactory test of the 
strength of the iron under the conditions to which the pipe will be sub- 
jected in service. 

Section 11, requiring that all pipe shall be stripped immediately, if 
taken from the pit before cooling, is very important, for the reason that 
when pipes are taken from the pit hot a deposit of loam is frequently left in 
spots on the outside, and wherever this occurs the cooling is irregular and 
the shrinking strains are unequal. The weakness thus produced may not 



458 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



show under the subsequent hydraulic test, but may be developed after the 
pipe has been subjected to rough treatment in railroad and other transpor- 
tation into the trenches, 

Specifications for Cast-Iron Coated Water Pipe, 

Section i. The pipe shall be of the usual kind known as "Hub and 
Spigot ; " each pipe shall be twelve (12) feet in length from the bottom of 
the hub to the end of the spigot ; the form and dimensions of hub and 
spigot-ends shall be as marked on and shown by drawings, to be furnished 
or approved by purchaser. 

Section 2. The metal shall be of the best quality for the purpose, 
made from what is commercially known as "Neutral " pig-iron, which shall 
have been made from iron-ores without the admixture of cinder, and when 
cast into pipe the metal shall be tough, and of such density and texture as 
will permit its being easily cut and drilled by hand. 

Section 3. Each pipe shall have cast on the exterior surface of hub 

in raised Roman letters, one and one-half (i}&) inches 

long, and shall be further marked in like manner with letters and figures to 
designate the maker of the pipe, and the year ; also serial numbers shall be 
cast on each pipe, commencing with a number to be designated by the pur- 
chaser. 

Section 4. The pipe shall be cast in dry sand moulds, or flasks, placed 
vertically, and shall be of the several diameters named in the contract. The 
shell shall be of uniform thickness of metal, smooth and sound, without 
cold-shuts, lumps, swells, scales, blisters, sand-holes, or other imperfections ; 
truly cylindrical ; of full diameters ; and with interior and exterior surfaces 
concentric. 

Section 5. Chemical analysis of the iron used shall be given whenever 
asked for, and a written daily report shall be furnished to the inspector, 
giving the brands of pig-iron used in each day's melting. 

Section 6. Each ladle of iron from which the pipes are poured shall 
be designated by a consecutive number, beginning with each day's work. 
A daily record of pipes cast shall be kept and furnished to the inspector, 
and must record the number of the ladle from which each pipe was poured, 
as well as the number on the pipe. 

Section 7. The shell shall be of uniform thickness throughout its en- 
tire length. Should the inspector find in any one place a variation in thick- 
ness of more than ten (10) per cent, less than that specified in the contract, 
such pipe shall be rejected. 

Section 8. From each ladle of melted iron there shall be cast one 
test-bar, not less than twenty-six (26) inches long, two (2) inches wide, and 
one (1) inch thick. This bar shall be tested for transverse strength when 
loaded in the centre, twenty-four (24) inches between supports (narrow sides 
vertical), and shall carry a centre breaking-load of not less than two thou- 
sand (2,000) pounds, and show a deflection of not less than 3-10 inches before 
breaking. This bar shall be cast as near as possible to the specified dimen- 



SPECIFICATIONS FOR CAST-IRON COATED WATER PIPE. 459 



sions without finishing up ; but correction shall be made for variation of 
width and thickness ; and the corrected result must conform to the above 
requirements. 

Section 9. If any test-bar shows a breaking strain or deflection less 
than the above requirements, all pipe made from the corresponding iron 
shall be rejected. 

Section 10. The maker shall furnish to the Inspector in charge two 
wrought-iron rings (male and female templates), the one showing the out- 
side diameter of the spigot-end, and the other the inside diameter of the 
hub-end of each size of pipe ; and the said pipe shall conform in diameters 
to the respective templates. 

Section ii. The pipe shall be thoroughly cleaned, both inside and 
outside, without the use of acid or other liquid. If the pipe is stripped 
while above a dark blue heat, all sand must be removed from the outside 
immediately. 

Section 12. When the pipe is so cleaned, it shall be heated to 300 
degrees Fahrenheit, and immersed in a bath of coal pitch varnish of an 
equal temperature. When the pipe is removed from the bath, this coating 
shall fume freely, and set perfectly hard within one hour from the time of 
removal. No pipe shall be tested by hydrostatic pressure until the varnish 
has become hard. 

Section 13. When coated, the pipe shall be subjected to a test by 
hydrostatic pressure of not less than four hundred and fifty (450) pounds per 
square inch for 6-inch and S-inch ; four hundred (400) pounds for 10-inch 
and 12-inch ; three hundred and fifty (350) pounds for 16-inch and 20-inch ; 
three hundrsd (300) pounds for 24-inch and 30-inch, and two hundred and 
fifty (250) pounds for 36-inch diameter and upwards; and while under such 
pressure the pipe shall be subjected to an additional test by a series of smart 
blows at various points throughout its entire length with a three (3) pound 
hammer, attached to a handle sixteen (16) inches long. If any failure is 
shown in the pipe during this test, it shall be rejected. 

Section 14. The weight of each pipe must correspond as nearly as 
possible to the standard named. Any pipe which may fall short over five (5) 
per cent, of the standard weight shall be rejected, and no weight shall be 
allowed or paid for any pipe that shall exceed two (2) per cent, of the 
standard weight. These requirements shall be determined by the weight of 
each pipe separately. 

Section 15. All special castings, such as ''Ells," "Tees," " Ys," 
bends, crosses, etc., shall be made from the same mixture of pig-iron as has 
been approved for pipe ; and all such castings shall be submitted to the 
same care in cleaning and heating, and the bath shall be used under the 
same conditions as for straight pipe. 

Section 16. All appliances necessary for the Inspector to carry out 
the requirements of these specifications shall be furnished by the maker free 
of cost to the purchaser. 



460 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Note.- — -The specifications proper, as appear in the report 
of the committee appointed by the American Water Works 
Association, are the specifications prepared and submitted by 
Mr. T. W. Yardley at the Washington Meeting of the American 
Institute of Mining Engineers, February, 1890. The discussion 
on the specifications at the Washington Meeting above-mentioned, 
developed the fact that, notwithstanding the rigid requirements 
of Mr. Yardley, the specifications were very weak in many 
points. 



Washington Meeting, February, 1890. 

discussion. 

J. C. Bayles, East Orange, N. J. (Communication to Secretary) : As a 
purchaser or user of cast-iron pipe, or any other kind of pipe, I should not 
be satisfied with so much of Mr. Yardley's specifications as relates to coating 
and testing. I should, in every case, demand that the pipe be tested before 
it is coated. This is especially true of cast-iron. Any form of coating suit- 
able for a pipe which is to be shipped and handled will conceal a multitude 
of defects in casting, such as blow-holes, sand-holes and even small shrink- 
age-cracks. In 1887 the Commissioners of the Health Department of New 
York City found it necessary, in the discharge of their responsibilities 
relative to the plumbing of new buildings, to amend the plumbing code by 
insertion of a clause forbidding the use of dipped, varnished or painted 
pipes. The reason for this action was the discovery that even a thin coating 
of very little value as protection for the iron could be made to conceal so 
many foundry defects, and permitted so much carelessness on the part of 
the makers that sound pipes were the exception rather than the rule. The 
value of such a coating in enabling pipes to pass a test is shown in much of 
the riveted pipe in the market. I have seen a pipe put together with small 
cold rivets, headed by pressure which, after coating with cold tar and 
asphalt, has shown in the testing machine a capacity to carry without leaks 
a test pressure much higher than Mr. Yardley prescribes for the strongest 
and heaviest cast-iron pipe he mentions. Before coating the seam would 
have shown a continuous leak from end to end. The fact that a coated pipe 
will hold water under a considerable pressure in the testing machine seems 
to me to speak more for the coating than for the pipe. A cork inserted in 
the end of a gun barrel will usually be found in place when the explosion of 
the charge has burst the barrel. Experiments show that a plug of mud, or 
even snow, will do the same. As a manufacturer of pipes, I should be very 
much pleased to have consumers specify that none should be tested until 
they had been coated. 

For cast-iron pipes the test pressures prescribed by Mr. Yardley seem 
to me much higher than is necessary. The calked joint is not adapted 



SPECIFICATIONS FOR CAST-IRON COATED WATER PIPE. 461 



for high pressures and cast-iron pipe is seldom employed under pressure 
greater than a lead calking will stand. It is not unusual in water-works 
practice for the lead to blow out of pipe joints at pressures much below 
those which the pipe will carry safely and comfortably. * * * The 
strength of the pipe cannot be greater than the strength of the joints, and 
with the hub and spigot connection the usefulness of cast-iron pipe as a 
pressure-conduit has well-defined limitations. In buying it for any purpose 
for which that kind of pipe is adapted, I should be content with half the 
test pressure prescribed by Mr. Yardley, but should insist on having the 
test made before the pipe was dipped, and, for that matter, I should require 
a very much better coating, after testing, than a coal-pitch varnish applied 
at 300 degrees F. 



An extract from the published proceedings of the American 
Water Works Association of April 14th, 15th and 16th, 1891, 
held at Philadelphia, Pa., may be of interest as showing the 
cause of bursting of cast-iron pipe previously tested at the 
foundry to a heavy pressure. We submit the extract mentioned, 
and on page 457 you will find the specifications entire. 

Col. Thos. Yardley, who prepared the specifications, was 
for a number of years the General Superintendent of one of (at 
the time) the largest manufactories of cast-iron pipe in this 
country, viz., the Gaylord Iron and Pipe Company, of Newport, 
Ky. , and of late years one of the principals of The Robert W. 
Hunt & Co., Bureau of Inspection Tests and Consultation, 
Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City: 

The President : I would like to inquire of Mr. Thomas Yardley if the 
report of the Committee on Specifications for Cast-iron Pipe is ready ? 
Mr. Yardley: Yes, sir. 
The President : This report is the next order of business. 



Mb. Yardeey's Report. 

At the last meeting of the American Water Works Association, held in 
Chicago, in May, 1890, the Chairman of this Committee was invited to read 
a paper entitled "Specifications for Cast-iron Coated Water Pipe ;" which 
paper was prepared by him for the Institution of Mining Engineers, and 
read at their Washington meeting the previous February. 

The motion of Mr. J. Nelson Tubbs, " that a committee be appointed by 
this Association, of which the gentleman who read the paper just now shall 
be the chairman, to report to the next meeting of this Association specifi- 
cations for cast-iron pipe for the consideration of this Convention," was 
adopted. 

Your Committee now have the honor to report the result of their inves- 



462 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



tigations and conclusions, and respectfully submit the same for the consid- 
eration of this Convention. 

It has been the desire and aim of your Committee to deal justly with 
both the manufacturers and the purchasers of pipe ; asking nothing of the 
former that cannot be performed, nor requiring of the inspector any duty to 
which he cannot give his personal attention. 

Cast-iron pipe which appears to the eye to be sound, and of the proper 
form, may have one or more of the following imperfections, viz.: 

First. — A poor quality of iron. 

Second.— Shrinkage in the metal, due either to improper molding, vary- 
ing thickness of the shell, or to the too rapid cooling of the melted iron. 

Third. — Want of uniformity in the thickness of the shell, which is 
usually due to a want of care, or skill, in molding. 

An inferior quality of iron will result in losses from breakage in trans- 
portation and handling, difficulty in cutting the pipe without getting split 
ends, or irregular breaks, and in failure of the pipe when subjected to a 
heavy water ram, which tests the toughness of the iron, as well as its tensile 
strength. When the pipe is under hydrostatic pressure at the works, there 
can be no water ram, and the water is practically free of air. 

Neither of these conditions exist in practice ; the water is not free of air 
in service, and the sudden closing of a valve will certainly produce a water- 
ram, and these blows will be repeated with greater frequency as water 
motors come into more general use. There is no way provided to anticipate 
the call for an excess of water, and the sudden closing of a valve will most 
certainly endanger the pipe. As this cannot be guarded against, all we can 
do is to secure the best quality, and thereby reduce the chances of burst 
pipe to the minimum. 

The second trouble, shrinkage strains, deserves to bear by far the burden 
of the largest share of bad names which cast iron has received as a structural 
material. This fault is inexcusable, and it will only be remedied when the 
consumer, by rigid inspection, insists that the metal receive the proper 
treatment from the time it enters the flask until it is coated and tested. 

A custom has grown among pipe-makers during the past few years of 
removing pipe from the pit before it is sufficiently cool. This is very bad 
foundry practice and should not be permitted. Pipe should not be stripped 
and taken from the pit while showing color of heat, for the reason that, when 
hot pipe is exposed to a sudden chill from cold air, the shrinkage of the 
outer surface will induce internal strains, and pipe in such condition will be 
liable to give way in the trenches. Too great stress cannot be laid on this 
matter of cooling down. It is a waste of money to buy good iron, if it is not 
treated with the greatest care while cooling down from the melted state. 

The hydraulic test under a high pressure, supplemented by the hammer 
test, is a detector of shrinkage strains, but it is a matter of record that 
water pipe has been made from a superior quality of tested iron ; tested by 
the hammer under heavy hydrostatic pressure ; laid in the trenches, and 
again tested ; only to burst several months later under a pressure much less 
than that of either test, with no evidence of any water-ram, and no flaws to 
be found in the break. That pipe must have been unfairly treated in the 
foundry. 



SPECIFICATIONS FOR CAST-IRON COATED WATER PIPE. 463 



The President : You have heard this report, gentlemen, what will you 
do with it ; it is open for discussion. 

The Secretary : Mr. President, as there seems to be no discussion on 
this report, I offer the following resolution : 

Resolved: That it is the sense of this convention that the form of specifications for cast- 
iron pipe reported by this committee is the proper and correct form to use in all proposals 
for cast-iron water pipe. 

The resolution was seconded and adopted unanimously. 



The report and specifications will be found on pages 12, 13, 
14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the proceedings above mentioned. 
The specifications have already appeared herein, on page 457. 



464 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ARTIFICIAL GAS. 

ADRIAN GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Adrian, Mich., Sept. 4th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of Aug. 31st at hand. We have used wrought-iron pipe for mains 
and find it in very good condition. I believe, from what I have learned, 
that the per centage of leakage must be very much less, as well as the cost 
of handling, laying and tapping wrought, than cast-iron pipe, but have not 
used enough cast-iron pipe to be able to give such information as might be 
of value. 

(Signed) C. H. Raynor, 

Supt. Adrian Gas Light Company. 



APPLETON GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Appleton, Wis., Sept. 5th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have used wrought-iron (and to-day will use no other) coated. The 
same is placed below action of frost, and the pipe has been in use for 
months, and drips are as free from water as the day they were put in posi- 
tion. 

(Signed) Wm. B. Miller, 

Supt. Appleton Gas Light Company. 



ATHOL GAS WORKS. 

Athol, Mass., April 6th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I send you by mail to-day a piece of your tin-coated pipe which Mr. S. 
L. Wiley left here for me to test, by placing it in our purifiers at Gas Works, 
which is the best place in the world to rust anything of that kind, but it will 
not strike through that coating, severe as the test is. I left it in the puri- 
fier over six months, and gave it a good trial. 

(Signed) F. R. Davis, Supt. 



ATLANTIC GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Atlantic, Iowa, Sept. nth, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of Aug. 31. The wrought-iron pipe we bought from 
you in 1883, and used for street mains has given us the fullest satisfaction. 

We put in expansion joints, one about every block, and find our mains 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 465 



stand cold weather remarkably well, and think our loss from leakage as near 
nothing as gas companies ever get, and perhaps a little nearer. 

Our soil is mostly a yellow clay, and mains appear to be in as good con- 
dition as when laid. 

(Signed) Atlantic Gas Light Company. 



BEATRICE GAS COMPANY. 

BEATRICE, NEB., Sept. 9th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of Aug. 31st, I would say that the wrought-iron pipe 
purchased from you in 1885 was used in our streets for mains, and has given 
the best of satisfaction. We now have about four miles of wrought-iron 
pipe in our mains and expect to lay about one mile more this fall. The pipe 
is 111 as good shape as when laid. All our joints are in good shape and tight. 
Wrought-iron pipe, as compared with cast-iron, is much better to handle 
and can be laid at a much less cost in the saving of labor and expense in 
making joints. We have tapped your wrought-iron pipe in all kinds of 
weather and always with good success. 

(Signed) Ed. P. Maxwell, 

Sec. and Treas. Beatrice Gas Company. 



BRADDOCK GAS AND LIGHT COMPANY. 

Braddock:, Pa., Mar. 27th, 18S9. 
National Tube Works Co. 

As time substantiates your claims for strength, durability and servicea- 
bility of your Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe, I write to tell you that the 
pipe of this class which we purchased of you in July, 1883, for our entire 
system, has given and is still giving perfect satisfaction. It is in as good 
practical condition as when laid, and our leakage is minimum compared 
with cast-iron systems. 

We use your pipe for all of our extensions and I am glad that your Con- 
verse Pipe has been so very successful ; it has all the merit and is entitled to 
all the praise. For artificial and natural gases, Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Pipe alone should be used. 

(Signed) W. W. McCleary, 

Supt. Braddock Gas and Light Company. 



Following is a copy of a telegram sent by W. W. McCleary, 
Superintendent of the Braddock Gas & Light Co., to Eugene 
Printz, Zanesville, Ohio, May 15, 1890: 

Braddock, Pa., May 15th, 1890. 
Eugene Printz, Supt. Gas Works, Zanesville, O. 

Our whole gas system is composed of Converse Light Lock Joint pipe ; 
is giving perfect satisfaction ; less than one per cent, leakage. 

(Signed) W. W. McCleary, Supt. 



466 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Office Braddock Gas & Light Company, ) 
Braddock, Pa., July 5, 1893. ) 
George N. Riley, National Tube Works Co., McKeesport, Pa. 

In reply to your inquiry of the 1st inst., to the durability and lasting 
qualities of the Converse Lock Joint pipe laid by this company in 1885, we 
will briefly state to you the following facts : 

We have had occasion from time to time to uncover our mains to make 
divers connections, and in making inspections of said pipe, have found it 
in perfect state of preservation, and from appearances is in as good a con- 
dition as the day we received it from your company. Converse Lock Joint 
pipe is the best joint in the market to-day for our use, as we consider it 
reliable and safe, and would be pleased to give you any other information 
in the future that we can in regard to the same. 

Braddock Gas & Light Co. , 
By W. W. McClEary, Supt. in charge. 



PEOPLE'S GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Canton, III., Sept. 13th, 1S86. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answers to yours of the 31st ult., will say that the wrought-iron pipe 
bought of you is in good shape, and from all appearances as good as when 
laid. The joints, as far as we know, are tight. In regard to leakage we 
have been bothered very little with this pipe. We think a better joint can 
be made with wrought-iron pipe than cast. The cost of laying wrought is 
about one-half that of cast-iron pipe. 

(Signed) People's Gas Light Company, 

L. A. Drake, Supt. 



CHARLOTTE GAS COMPANY. 

Charlotte, Mich., Sept. 7th, 1886. 
National Tube IVorks Co. 

Your letter of August 31st is at hand. We have between four and five 
miles of wrought-iron pipe, and no leaks of any consequence. 

We are not in the habit of tapping where it can be avoided. We lay a 
good many tees with the mains, and in putting in services use them if it 
does take a little more pipe for the service. 

(Signed) F. A. Hooker, 

Sec. and Treas Charlotte Gas Company. 



DIXON GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY. 

Dixon, III., Sept. 6th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of 31st ult., would state that the wrought-iron 

pipe purchased of you is as good as when laid. 

(Signed) George Steel, 

Sec. and Treas. Dixon Gas and Electric Light Company. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 467 



EAU CLAIRE GAS COMPANY. 

Eau Claire, Wis., Sept. 8th, i836. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your favor of 31st ult., respecting the durability of 3'our 
wrought-iron pipe in use by this Company, would say that, in 1S84, we were 
obliged to take up and re-locate a considerable portion of six-inch wrought- 
iron gas main, which had been down for six years, and it seemed to be in 
every respect as good as new. We acted on this theory at least, and re-laid 
it. Have also had occasion to examine wrought-iron gas pipe more recently 
laid, which was furnished us by you, and it was found to be as good as when 
laid. Our foreman, who is by trade a blacksmith, gives it as his opinion 
that, if wrought-iron pipe is properly put together when laid, a better joint 
can be made, so far as protecting against gas leaks, than with cast-iron. It, 
unquestionably, costs less to lay wrought-iron gas pipe than it would to lay 
cast-iron pipes and make tight joints. We think this would also be the 
case in regard to tapping the same. 

(Signed) M. Griffin, 

President Eau Claire Gas Company. 



Eau Claire, Wis., July 3d, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of 24th ult., would say, after talking with men 
who have been connected with the Gas Company for a much longer time 
than I was, and who are familiar with the condition of the pipe, that such 
of the pipe as has been taken up and relaid was found to be substantially in 
as good condition as it was when first laid. 

The only difficulty with screw jointed wrought-iron pipe as developed 
here arose in consequence of the poor work done in laying it. The joints 
were found to be good in all cases where it was put together right, and 
leaks occurred where it was barely screwed on far enough to merely make 
the connection without regard to making the joint substantial and per- 
manent. 

Our experience here was that if wrought-iron pipe is properly laid, and 
the joints are screwed together for the proper distance, it compares favorably 
with lead jointed cast-iron pipe, both as to durability and on the question 
of leakage. So far as the cost of labor is concerned the advantage is de- 
cidedly with the wrought-iron pipe. 

This information is based upon the views of men who have had prac- 
tical experience in handling the pipe, re-laying it, looking after leaks, etc., 
and might be elaborated upon in case of necessity. 

Trusting this information may answer your porpose, I remain, 

(Signed) M. Griffin. 

EUREKA GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Eureka, Cae., Feb. ilth, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Having used several thousand feet of your wrought-iron lap-welded 
pipe, we find it to be the best and cheapest pipe that we have ever used. 



468 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Reasons for its Preference : 
ist. It is a great deal the cheapest, comparatively. 

2d. It costs at least 50 per cent, less to lay it ready for use than cast- 
iron pipe. 

3d. It is a great deal more convenient for tapping for service pipes, as 
it requires no extra connections, or tees, and it can also be tapped without 
turning either gas or water off and without a particle of loss. 

4th. The pores of the iron being perfectly tight there is no possible 
chance for leakage. 

5th. For cheapness and durability it is not excelled. 

(Signed) Eureka Gas Light Company, 

C. Rose, Supt. 



FAIRFIELD GAS WORKS. 

Fairfield, Iowa, Sept. 8th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of Aug. 31st, would say, write the Gas Tight Com- 
pany at Washington, Iowa ; the parties who built Washington plant are not 
here. We are using wrought-iron mains here, and I would put my leakage 
account against any in the State. 

(Signed F. E. McMiEUN, 

Supt. Fairfield Gas Works. 



GREENVILLE GAS WORKS. 

Geeenvii/lE, Mich., Jan. 16th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry I have to say that we have here in our gas 
works four miles of wood-pipe mains, sizes, three-inch, four-inch and six-inch. 
It has proven a costly investment, as we are now obliged to replace our 
mains. We use wrought-iron service pipe. 

Our works were built in May, 1875. We make from 16,000 to 18,000 
cubic feet of gas daily, and our leakage is fully thirty-five per cent. At 
times it has gone as high as forty-five per cent. 

We have investigated your Kalamein pipe, fitted with the Converse Lock 
Joint, and are so well pleased that we shall adopt it and relay our mains 
with it. 

Any other facts we have that you desire we shall be pleased to furnish. 
We make coal gas. 

(Signed) Henry M. Fui/ler, 

Owner of Greenville Gas Works. 



GUNNISON GAS AND WATER COMPANY. 

Gunnison, Coi,., Sept. 13th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 31st ult., would say : The pipe purchased of your 

Company in 1882, has been as satisfactory as we expected. The six-inch 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 469 

and three-inch shipped us in May, r8S6, was very satisfactory. The Kala- 
mein was well incorporated into the body of the iron, and the asphaltum on 
top of that made the metal as perfectly impervious to the action of the 
weather and soil as it seems possible to make it. The Converse Joint, as 
now made, forms one of the most perfect lead joints I have examined. I 
apprehend no trouble from this pipe whatever. In our lines, laid by inexpe- 
rienced help entirely, only one imperfect joint was found, when tested under 
ioo pounds pressure, before covering the pipe. 

(Signed)) The Gunnison Gas and Water Co., 

D. J. McCanne, Supt. 



J. D. PATTON". 

HicksvilIvE, Ohio, Sept. 13, 1SS6, 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of the 7th inst., just received, I can say that since 
commencing the vise of wrought iron street mains for gas I have entirety 
ceased using cast-iron for that purpose. I can see nothing in the condition 
of mains laid in 1877-78 and later to indicate any material deterioration in 
them. I find that leakage from wrought-iron mains to be but a small frac- 
tion of that from cast-iron ones. 

In one case several careful tests showed the leakage from two and one- 
half miles of wrought-iron mains to be only four cubic feet per hour, in the 
day time, with full pressure 011, and two years after the mains were laid. 

When once laid and made tight the wrought-iron joints always remain 
so, while the cast-iron joint is always liable to start a leak unless laid entirely 
below the reach of frost and out of the way of concussion and jars. 

(Signed) J. D. PaTTOn. 



MACOMB GAS WORKS. 

Macomb, III;., Sept. 4th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The wrought-iron pipe we purchased of you in 1881, ranging in sizes 
one and one-half to five inches, was used for mains. We have never had 
any trouble from leakage. The joins are apparently as good as when made. 
If we were going to build new gas works we should use nothing but your 
wrought-iron pipe. 

(Signed) J. M. Hume, 

Tessee of Gas Works. 



McKEESPORT GAS COMPANY. 

McKeesport, Pa., Oct. 15th, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have given your Supt. Patterson a section of four-inch O. D. line of 
your special wrought-iron gas pipe, which was laid by me in 1875. We took 
it up in September, 1887, and found it in as perfectly serviceable a condition 



470 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



as when it was put in the ground. I must say that I was somewhat stir- 
prised to find it so perfect. Cast-iron pipe could not have made such a 
record under similar circumstances. I have taken up cast-iron pipe from 
the same soil here, which had not been buried for nearly so long a time and 
the result has been just the reverse of this. Our soil is a very severe one, 
and the showing in this case proves the durability of your wrought-iron 
pipe. 

(Signed) Wm. C. Neemes, 

Supt. McKeesport Gas Company. 



McKeesport, Pa., Oct. 15th, 1SS7. 

E. C. Converse, Assistant General Manager. 

I have just received a section of a line of our light wrought-iron pipe, 
which was furnished to the McKeesport Gas Company in 1875 and which I 
think is an admirable argument in favor of the durability of wrought iron 
pipe. 

I was present when the pipe was laid and have had the section which I 
saw taken up, cut into short pieces, marked : " Laid in 1875, taken up in 
1887." 

You will notice that there is hardly a trace of rust and that the in- 
side diameter of the pipe is as smooth as when first laid. I herewith quote 
the original order, which appears in your Shipping Order Book " C," page 
184, order, No. 4,942: "McKeesport, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 13th, 1875. Mc- 
Keesport Gas Company, McKeesport, Pa. 1,100 feet four-inch. O. D. 
Special Gas Pipe ; enamelled ; with pin and socket joint ; No. 12 gauge." 

This section of pipe had to be taken up and the course of the line 
changed to make room for additional mains running along Fifth Street, near 
R. G. Wood's residence. 

As several experienced pipe layers agreed, when this section of pipe was 
taken up, it is as virtually as good as when first buried. Our clay soil in 
this city is very severe and rapidly attacks cast-iron pipe, and in this con- 
nection it may be appropriate to note that I have seen cast-iron pipe, which 
has been buried on Walnut Street, in the same kind of soil, for much 
shorter periods of time, rendered completely unserviceable, by reason of 
the vigorous attacks of rust and tuberculation. Supt. Neemes of the Gas 
Works Company has consequently been obliged to take up quantities of it 
and replace with good pipe. 

This four-inch O. D. pipe of which I speak was originally coated with 
what we then called our " enamel mixture," which was not so tough and 
tenacious as our present mixture of "special asphaltum," and, as these 
samples show, it became rubbed off in handling, soThat the pipe was, to a 
great extent, plain unprotected wrought-iron. The samples in question are 
conclusive evidence in my mind of the durability of wrought-iron pipe and 
its superiority to cast-iron. 

(Signed) Peter Patterson, 

Superintendent. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 471 

MICHIGAN CITY GAS COMPANY. 

Michigan City, Ind., Sept. 9th, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your inquiry about wrought-iron pipe, purchased from you 
two years ago, I would say that so far as known the pipe appears to be in as 
serviceable condition as when laid. 

No trouble has been experienced from leakage at joints, and in this 
respect we have experienced less trouble than with cast-iron pipe. 
(Signed) Michigan City Gas Co., 

Wiuiam Blinks, President. 



MINNEAPOLIS GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 4th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours of 31st ult., would say we lay all pipe of sizes under 
six inches of wrought-iron. Our soil here is such that it will not eat out 
like cast-iron. 

The cost averages from five to ten cents per lineal foot more than with 
cast-iron, but the pipe is better, tighter and stronger, and particularly so 
with us, as small cast-iron mains trouble us much in breakage and leakage 
by reason of service and water pipe excavations under us. 

(Signed) H. W. Brown, 

President Minneapolis Gas Light Co. 



Minneapolis Gas Light Company. \ 
Minneapolis, Minn, June 30, 1893. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

Dear Sirs: — In repty to your favor of the 24th iust., this company 
lays all mains of 3-inch and 4-inch di. of wrought-iron or steel pipe. "We 
have laid some 6-inch wrought-iron pipe and have had no trouble from it, 
but we lately have laid cast-iron mains for 6-inch and above. I would say 
that the soil of Minneapolis seems to rust wrought-iron pipe less than in 
most cities. Our leakage is lower than the average I believe, and we attri- 
bute it in some measure to the use of wrought-iron pipe. Another advantage 
we derive from the use of pipe with screwed joints, is that they can be taken 
up and relaid at little cost. Much of the 3-inch and 4-inch pipe we consider 
as "Pioneer" pipe. It fills the immediate requirements of new districts, 
and later on may be replaced with pipe of larger diameter if the demand for 
gas should require it. 

(Signed) Yours truly, 

D. Douglas, Supt. 

MODESTO GAS WORKS. 

Modesto, Cal., Feb. 9th, 1879. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your recent inquiry relative to the merits of the lap-welded 
pipe, now in use by us, both for water and gas, I take pleasure in saying 



472 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



that it gives us entire satisfaction. Our water mains are in a state of perfect 
tightness, and it is a remarkable fact that our total leakage of gas is only 
one per cent. 

It is true we have only had it in use now nearly two years, but the 
merits claimed for it having come up to our expectations in every respect, 
we take pleasure in recommending it to the use of water and gas companies 
throughout the world. 

(Signed) L. C. Branct, 

Proprietor, Modesto Gas Works. 



MUTUAL GAS LIGHT CO. 

It may not be uninteresting to learn that Mr. E. S. T. Ken- 
nedy, son of the President of the Mutual Gas Light Co., of New 
York City, told the author early in January, 1890, that he esti- 
mated the average leakage of cast-iron mains of the illuminating 
gas companies of the city at an average of slightly over ten per 
cent, and that the cost of distribution, which included this leakage, 
formed quite an item in the operations of the gas company. 



MUSCATINE GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Chicago, Iu,., Aug. 31st, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Pipe gave perfect satisfaction, and we consider our leakage less than on 
the cast-iron pipe. 

(Signed) Thomas Cowexi,, Sec. and Treas. 

Muscatine Gas Light Company, of Muscatine, Iowa. 



NEENAH AND MENASHA GAS COMPANY". 

NEISNAH, Wis., Oct. 1st, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of inquiry of Aug. 31st, will say the wrought-iron 
pipe bought of your company during the past eight years for this place 
and Ripon was used for street gas mains, and same has given best of 
satisfaction. 

Although our soil is of a heavy clay, containing properties injurious 
to iron pipe, the pipe is still in good condition that was laid eight years 
since. 

The joints are perfectly tight, and we have no such thing as leakage 
from our mains. 

(Signed) Thos. Higgins, Sec. and Treas. 

Neenah and Menasha Gas Company. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 473 



NEW YORK STEAM COMPANY. 

New York, May ist, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I am in receipt of your's of the 27th ult., expressing your satisfaction 
at the superb record the N. Y. Steam Co. have made with wrought-iron 
pipes, and asking whether or not you are correct in understanding that the 
result of our wrought-iron system has been fully equal to our expectations. 

In response, I take pleasure in stating that the wrought-iron pipes used 
by the New York Steam Company were satisfactory in every respect. 

While I would recommend in future the use of a heavier pipe from the 
fact that such pipe can now be procured and has been used in large quantities 
in connection with the conduction of natural gas, still the experience of the 
New York Steam Co. shows that tight joints can be made permanently with 
a lighter pipe. 

Some leaks which occurred in work constructed awhile after the opera- 
tions were started were not due to the system, but to errors of judgment 
outside of the engineering force, in endeavoring to cheapen the work, 
whereby the foundations were not perfect. 

The pipe first laid and that laid toward the end have never given any 
trouble, and that laid at the intermediate stage is now practically tight. 
(Signed) Chas. E. Emery, C. E. 



OTTAWA GAS LIGHT & COKE CO. 

Ottawa, III., Sept. 3rd, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of 31st ult., will say : The wrought-iron pipe in ques- 
tion was used in fitting up artesian wells, not for gas; but we have considera- 
ble mains of wrought-iron in the ground and consider it good. We have 
no way of comparing the leakage, but consider it greatly in favor of 
wrought-iron. 

(Signed) N. C. Perkins, 

Sec. of Ottawa Gas Light & Coke Co. 



PALESTINE LIGHT, HEATING AND FUEL CO. 

Palestine, Texas, Sept. 8th, 1S84. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We are now ready to commence laying gas pipe and should be pleased 
to receive your best cash prices. 

We have low bids on cast-iron but the writer being with Mr. C. E. Gray 
during the construction of both Fergus Falls and Duluth works became 
attached to your pipes and especially so for gas— prefers it to any other — and 
hopes you can give us figures to justify our buying it. 

(Signed) W. H. FriTCHMAN, 

Sec. and Treas. Palestine Light, Heating and Fuel Co. 



474 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



PABIS, FEANCE. 

Since the foundation of the Societe des Tuyaux Chameroy 
in 1838, this company alone has furnished, from time to time, 
its products of wrought-iron pipe for water and gas mains to the 
value of 80,000,000 francs, or $16,000,000. The immense out- 
put of wrought-iron pipe comprises 10,000,000 meters, equal to 
39,370,000 feet, equal in turn to 6,213 3~4 m des. 

This wrought-iron pipe has been furnished to some of the 
largest gas companies in all France, there being over 100 miles 
of it in the city of Paris alone, as will be seen from the following 
schedule: 
To the Parisian Gas Company : 

1,800,000 meters — equal to 5,905,500 feet ; or 118 4-5 miles. 

To the Central Gas Company, "] 

To the European Gas Company, I 8,200,000 meters — 

To the Marseilles Gas Company, and \ equal to 26,902,833 feet. 



To other Gas Companies, 



BACINE AND OSHKOSH GAS COMPANIES, 

Racine, Wis., Sept. 4th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of the 31st ult., to hand. As regards the durability of the coated 
pipe you furnished us for this place and Oshkosh in '82, 'S3, '84, &c, it is 
to all appearance as good now as when it was laid. I should say it was good 
for the next twenty years at least. 

As to tightness of joints, there is very little, if any leakage ; it does not 
exceed two per cent. You can without doubt make a great deal tighter joint 
with wrought-iron than you can with cast-iron. 

You can lay a mile of wrought-iron pipe in about half the time, with 
the same number of men, that you can lay a mile of cast-iron, besides the 
savings of fuel and pig lead for jointing. 

(Signed) John Rodgers, 

Manager Racine and Oshkosh Gas Companies. 



BED OAK GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

RED Oak, Iowa, Sept. nth, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Reply to your inquiry in regard to wrought-iron pipe bought of you for 
gas mains in 1882. 

We take pleasure in stating that we have found our mains, when we un- 
cover them to put in services, in very nearly the same condition as when put 
in — generally clean and apparently sound as when laid. 

We have had very little trouble from leakage, and as you know some 
mighty cold winters. 

Our soil is a black gumbo. 

(Signed) Red Oak Gas Light Co. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 475 



RIPON LIGHTING COMPANY. 

Ripon, Wis., July 3d, 1S93. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of June 24th, asking us to advise you as to the 

satisfaction the wrought-irou gas mains are giving which have been laid in 

our city in the past, and which your company furnished us, would say that 

they have done nicely for us, and now in eight years we hear of no leaks. 

Our soil is a sandy loam. 

Ripon Lighting Company. 

Cody. 



EOCKFOED, ILLINOIS. 

Rockford, III., Nov. 14th, 1882. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of the 9th, inquiring about the lasting qualities of 
wrought-iron pipe for gas mains, I would say our soil is gravelly, wet and 
mixed with clay in places. We put in some wrought-iron mains in 1858. 
Before laying it we coated it with tar, and let it dry in the sun. We used 
tar on the threads and couplings, freely mixed with clean sand. In 1874 we 
had some of the same mains taken out, being too small to supply the con- 
sumption. In all cases the pipe was sound, and the threads clean. All we 
had to do was to clean and re-tar it and relay it on other streets where it 
was large enough. 

We now have in use over eight miles of wrought-iron pipe from one and 
one-half to four inches, and all of it giving the best of satisfaction. 

Our leakage account will compare more than favorably with any other 
works, and we claim that wrought-iron pipe is the cause of it. 

(Signed) Thos. Butterworth. 



SALT LAKE CITY GAS COMPANY. 

Salt Lake City, Utah, Mar. 17th, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I am about to have our service pipe people get some of your Kalamein 
pipe, or send for it ourselves, having no doubt that it will be all right. 
Some ten years ago I placed a short piece of one and one-half inch gal- 
vanized-iron pipe in some of our American liquor from the Scrubber. In 
about a month, more or less, I lifted it out. It was only about three 
inches long, set on end, half in the liquor and half out. When I lifted it 
out the zinc dropped off and stayed mostly in the liquor, not even rising to 
the surface — about like a piece of bark. 

I tried your Kalamein pipe ; it rusted just a little — a mere trace, but no 
deterioration whatever. 

Now, I would like to learn whether it will harden water by going 
through it, or setting in a vessel of it, like water is when run through gal- 
vanized pipe. As it is patented, I would like to know whether it has any 
zinc in it, as it would be cheaper than lead pipe for services. 

(Signed) T. W. Ellebeck, 

Supt. Salt Lake City Gas Co. 



476 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



SOUTH BEND GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

South Bend, Ind., Sept. ioth, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In answer to your favor of the 31st ult., would say that the Converse 
Lock Joint pipe bought of you was laid to conduct steam to our new gas 
holder. 

As regards leakage, I do not think it leaks, as we have not had any 
surface indications. 

As to condition of pipe, can not say, as it has never been exposed since 
it was laid, but will advise you should it be. We have every confidence 
in it. 

(Signed) B. W. Perkins, 

Supt. South Bend Gas Tight Co. 



STANDARD GAS COMPANY. 

Mr. H. B. Benchley, of the Pacific Iron Works, of San Fran- 
cisco, was appointed a Committee to come to New York and 
investigate the respective merits of wrought and cast-iron pipe 
for manufactured gas mains, in view of the operations of the 
proposed new gas company in San Francisco. Mr. Benchley 
informed the author while in New York on January ioth, 1890, 
that the General Manager of the Standard Gas Company, of this 
city (which company has screw joint wrought-iron mains), in- 
formed him that their leakage was less than one per cent. 

(Copy of Telegram.) 

New York City, N. Y., Feb 25th, 1890. 
Emerson McMillan, President Laclede Gas Co., St. Louis, Mo. 

We find wrought-iron gas mains practically stop all leakage. Only 
leaks we have are on cast-iron crosses and sleeves. Leakage in cast-iron 
lines in this city average fourteen per cent. Ours does not exceed one per 
cent. 

(Signed) O. P. Shaffer, 

Treasurer, Standard Gas Light Company. 



STILLWATER GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Stiee water, Minn., Sept. 4th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your letter of 31st ult. at hand. Regarding the condition of the two- 
inch, three-inch and four-inch pipe, bought of you, would say that it is in 
as good condition now as when bought of you — but as it has only been down 
a few years, we could not assert positively as to its durability, but we have 
no apprehension on that score. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 477 



The joints are as tight to-day as when put in, and the per cent, of leak- 
age is nothing, and there need be none if joints are properly put together. 

In regard to cast-iron pipe, we have not used any, and do not intend to, 
as we consider your pipe the best for our use. 

Our superintendent thinks there is a great saving in this pipe over cast- 
iron, but is not prepared to say how much. 

(Signed) Matt. Clark, 

Sec. and Treas. The Stillwater Gas Light Co. 



STREATOR GAS WORKS. 

StreaTor, Ii,i,., Sept. 3d, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to your letter of August 31st. Of the wrought-iron pipe I put 
down here, one lot I laid on East Main Street in this city, and, as it chanced, 
the Water Works Company, in laying their mains this season, excavated by 
side and under almost the entire length of it. We found it in tip-top shape, 
and without a leak or rust to injure it the least. Wrought-iron pipe can be 
put down three times as fast as cast-iron pipe, is much less liable to leak, 
is more flexible, and as easy to tap. 

Last year I had occasion to take up 200 feet of pipe (wrought of course) 
which had been in the ground for nine years and found it good ; in fact, but 
little injured, and laid it in again further along in my extension. 
(Signed) W. H. Lukins, 

Lessee and Manager of the Streator Gas Works. 



TONA WANDA GAS WORKS. 

Buffalo, N. Y., March 16, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Within the last thirty days we have completed the gas works at Tona- 
wanda, this State. We laid during November and December five miles of 
your Converse Lock Joint Pipe, eight-inch, six-inch, four-inch, and three- 
inch. We had four bridges to cross, none of which are very substantially 
built ; three of them vibrate to a great extent when teams cross. This we 
of course expected would cause some trouble, but, to our surprise, when we 
turned the gas into the mains there was not a leak in the entire line. 

Your service clamps are perfect. We have put in a great many services, 
and are putting in more every day, and up to this time we have not had one 
leaky joint. 

The Converse Lock Joint Pipe can be laid much faster than cast-iron 
pipe, and we consider it better in all respects. Wherever we build gas 
works in future shall recommend the use of your pipe. 

(Signed) R. A. Stranahan, 

W. C. Parsons, 
Contractors, Tonawanda Gas Works. 



478 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



WALLINGFORD, CONN. 

In 1883 we furnished the contractor, W. C. McClallan, 
Converse Lock Joint pipe for the construction of the system of 
the Wallingford Gas Company, (Egerton process). 

In September, 1884, the chief engineer of the Philadelphia 
Gas Works dropped down in Wallingford and at once endeav- 
ored to create dissatisfaction among the citizens, both as to 
quality of the gas and character of the pipe system 

A meeting of the citizens was held and it was then asserted 
that the killing of trees in the park was the result of escaping 
gas from leaky mains. E. M. Judd of the Gas Company notified 
the contractor, McClallan, on September 15th, of the above-men- 
tioned circumstances. Mr. Judd informed Mr. McClallan that 
the meeting was "a severe attack upon the pipe and reported to 
be pronounced entirely unfit for this kind of gas by the Chief 
Engineer of the Philadelphia Gas Works. They are to make 
full written report on the 24th, and it is the Company's wish 
that you come and meet them and ask the makers of the pipe 
to send a man thoroughly posted, to defend their interest." 

We sent one of our engineers to co-operate with Mr. Mc- 
Clallan and probe into the facts of the case. Our engineer wrote 
us the following report on the 25th : 

We have met the enemy and they are ours. When the meeting opened 
in the evening we were ready to meet any points in the report of the com- 
mittee tending to place any trouble at our door. The information received by 
the Chairman of the Committee had. been entirely obtained from the Chief 
Engineer of the Philadelphia Gas Works, a man who was working solely in 
the interest of cast-iron pipe ! The points we were enabled to obtain re- 
garding this man's reputation as a gas engineer, were such as to effectually 
dispose of his evidence. To be brief, the whole question was settled to the 
perfect satisfaction of all parties. The Converse Lock Joint system of pipe 
here was conceded to be the best in this locality, so far as the important 
question of leakage was concerned. Mr. Egerton, of Philadelphia, made a 
speech strongly in favor of wrought-iron mains for gas. He stated the fact 
that the city of Paris, France, used wrought-iron mains entirely, having 
2,500 miles of wrought-iron pipe in the system, and not one single foot of 
cast-iron pipe. 

Concerning this abortive attempt of the cast-iron people to 
create dissatisfaction among the citizens of Wallingford, the con- 
tractor, Mr. McClallan wrote us September 25th : 

The result was a success for us. Contrary to intention, the public in- 
vestigation resulted in an endorsement of the Wallingford system. 



WROUGHT-IRON GAS MAINS. 479 



WATERLOO GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Waterloo, Iowa., Sept. nth, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Replying to yours, I don't know where the original mains for these 
works were bought, but they are all wrought-iron threaded pipe, and all our 
extensions have been the same, and much of it bought from vou. By use of 
an occasional expansion joint, we find wrought-threaded pipe to stand the 
cold weather well. 

Very few leaks and easily repaired. 

Our soil is black loam and sand, and the pipe keeps bright and clean 
and seems as good as new. 

Wouldn't use cast-iron pipe at half price. 

(Signed) C. D. Jones, 

Sec. Waterloo Gas Light Co. 



480 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 

Density and strength of material, minimum leakage, also 
minimum friction and cost of maintenance, in connection with 
the other superior qualifications which we have already proven 
for wrought-iron pipe in the preceding pages, have gradually 
brought the Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe before gas pro- 
ducers and consumers with most flattering and successful results 
so far as its adoption and indorsement are concerned. 

In the preceding chapter we have given the testimony of a 
few of those engineers who are experienced in the use of wrought- 
iron and steel gas mains, and without exception the verdict is 
unreservedly in favor of their superiority over cast-iron pipe. 
Additional names could be given, but space will not permit 
Contrast these facts with the following records — contrast the 
security and safety of wrought-iron and steel mains, with the 
insecurity and danger of cast-iron conduits. 



SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. 
The following article — copied from the Springfield Republican 
appears in the Chicago Daily News of January 2d, 1894. 

Leaks from Gas Mains. 

Leaks of various kinds are, of course, a source of trouble to gasmen. It 
is necessary always to allow for a certain amount of leaking. 

Cast-iron pipes are very apt to leak a little. A joint may allow an al- 
most imperceptible amount to escape, and it is estimated this necessary 
leakage amounts to one hundred thousand cubic feet in one year to each 
mile of main pipe. The accidents from leaks are costly and sometimes 
troublesome. If a leak occurs in a house or block it is soon noticed by the 
occupants and does not prove difficult to locate, but when it happens to be 
in one of the main pipes, that is quite another matter. 

These are discovered, sometimes, by the passers-by on the street, who 
smell the gas, and sometimes by means of pressure gauges. When a leak 
or break is suspected ou any line of pipes, a man takes a long iron bar and 
goes along the ground, over the pipe, making a deep hole every few steps, 
and then testing for gas. * * * Sometimes a leak is discovered by some 
one noticing that the trees and grass in a certain locality are dying. An 
investigation into the cause follows and escaping gas proves to be the cause. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 481 



LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. 

Numerous instances can be cited where gas leaks have killed 
block after block of trees and shrubbery inside the curb walls 
and sidewalks, and upon beautiful lawns that skirt the streets 
wherein cast-iron gas pipes were laid. Among the cities thus 
despoiled of its trees and shrubbery, may be mentioned, Louis- 
ville, Ky., where great damage was done and many suits against 
the gas company were threatened. 



BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. 



Asphyxiated. — John Cooney's Ten Children Were Overcome by 
Gas. — There was a Big Leak in the Main. 

Owing to a leak in a gas main, a whole family, consisting of ten per- 
sons, were almost asphyxiated this morning, They were discovered in time 
to save their lives, but are at home still sick from the effects of the gas, and 
it will be some days before they are fully recovered. 

The family live at 40 Veranda Place, near Clinton Street, and consists 
of John Cooney, a copyist in the Register's office, and his ten children. 

About 6 o'clock this morning William awoke with a splitting headache. 
He went to his sister Mary's room, and found she had not gotten up to cook 
breakfast. He awoke her, but she made some remark about being sick, and 
fell back again in bed, to sleep, he thought, but she was really unconscious 
from the gas. 

William was dazed, and did not know what he was doing, and started 
back to bed again. 

Just at this time Mr. Cooney returned home. As he opened the front 
door he was almost overcome by the strong smell of gas. He left the door 
open and went into the house. He met William, who told him Mary was 
sick, and that he felt sick. 

Suspecting the gas had something to do with it, Mr. Cooney quickly 
threw open the windows and made a tour of the house. He found all his 
children in bed, almost asphyxiated from the gas. He roused them all, but 
could not wake Mary and Walter. He tried to bring them to, but could 
not, and sent John for Dr. Brown, of 278 Clinton Street, who, after some 
trouble, brought the two around. They are still in bed, not yet having re- 
covered from the effects of the gas. 

The gas that nearly killed the whole family escaped from the main that 
leads into the house. It was discovered, and the Citizens' Gaslight Com- 
pany was notified. They sent men to the house, who repaired the leak. — 
Brooklyn Standard-Union, December 31, 1894. 



CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 

Caused by Gas Leaks —Frequency of Manhole Explosions. 
Within a year manhole explosions have caused two deaths in Chicago, 
and have been frequent enough to cause many more. A manhole at the 



482 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



northeast corner of Washington Street and Fifth Avenue, which is the 
Conduit Company's system, has an especial fondness for whirling its cap 
in the air as if in a wild hurrah, and several times it has nearly unroofed the 
heads of pedestrians in its mad descent. The latest freak of this hole in the 
ground was to break loose Wednesday night. It had been raining some- 
time before the explosion, and as this fact had been noticed in connection 
with the other explosions, to the technically informed it signified something. 
% Employes of an electric light company made an examination 
yesterday and reported that the eruption was caused by a leaky gas main. 
" We have notified the gas company of our discovery and informed it that we 
will not be responsible for any resulting damages," said an official of the 
Conduit Company, yesterday. "We have been aware of the frequent 
trouble at this point and have carefully applied every known remedy to 
prevent it. Once before we notified the gas company of the cause. The 
company has paid no attention to it. Now we have established the fact 
that there is a leaky gas main near the conduit, and it is its duty to rem- 
edy it." 

Said John P. Barrett, the City Electrician : "Ordinarily these manhole 
explosions result from bad ventilation. The city has done a great deal of 
work in the matter of ventilating these manholes. All the electric and tel- 
ephone companies have experimented in the same direction. On the West 
Side, a trap connecting with the city sewers is employed to ventilate the 
conduit. Here at the City Hall they are attached to the smokestack, but the 
objection to this plan is that property owners object to connection being made 
with their chimneys, on the theory that there is a probability of explosion 
by which their property may be injured, and they do not propose to take 
any chances. The ventilation of a manhole by having a few holes drilled 
in the cap is of very little use. The gas mains are responsible for the 
trouble. When the pressure is put on to force the gas to Lake View, the pipes 
will not stand it and the escape from the mains into the conduits causes all 
of our troubles. Remedy the gas mains and the electric conduit system will 
remedy itself. Take the Washington Street and Fifth Avenue manhole as 
an example," said an electrician, " and you will find that the whole matter 
results from the gas mains. The gas company finds it much cheaper to let 
the gas escape than to put in new mains. The gas in the conduit cannot 
force itself out and an explosion follows. It has been demonstrated that 
the conduit ventilation is sufficient ordinarily to take care of the escaping 
gas and its own accumulations, but with a rain laden atmosphere it cannot 
do it." 

Killed by The Manhoee Cover. 

Of the manhole accidents the most distressing was that at Wabash 
Avenue and Jackson Street a year ago. A woman was on her way home 
early one afternoon when the cap of a manhole was thrown into the air and 
descended upon her head, killing her instantly. 

Not long since the manhole fronting the Board of Trade on La Salle 
Street exploded with terrific force, breaking the heavy plate glass of the 
adjacent windows and narrowly missing two pedestrians. This manhole has 
frequently exploded. 

Wednesday night at about 6:30 o'clock, when many persons were passing 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 483 



Washington Street and Fifth Avenue on their way home, the usual explosion 
occurred. 

At another time recently it exploded about 10 o'clock P. M. One wheel 
of a cab was upon the cap at the time and the cab was overturned, the horse 
being more or less injured. Fortunately the driver was not on the box — 
Chicago Herald, September 9, 1892. 



Another Manhole Explosion. 

The cover of an Arc Tight and Power Company manhole at the corner of 
Dearborn and Madison Streets was blown into the air last evening. With it 
went officer Michael J. Donahue, of the Central detail. When the explosion 
occurred the officer was standing on the cover guarding pedestrians from the 
danger of passing street cars and wagons. He remained in this position 
until he was four feet up in the air. The cover shot upward past him to a 
height of twenty feet and, falling, was shattered. No one was injured 
although officer Donahue narrowly escaped.— Chicago Inter-Ocean, September 

II, lSQ2. 

Many Lives in Danger.— Violent Explosion of Gas in a Wash- 
ington Street Conduit.— This Dangerous Manhole used Jointly 
by the Aac Light and Telephone Companies.— Has Exploded 
Nine Times Within a Few Weeks.— Supt. Burke will Investi- 
gate and Compel the Companies to Take Steps to Prevent the 
Explosions which Menace Human Life. 

The manhole stationed at the center of Fifth Avenue and Washington 
Streets blew up again yesterday afternoon at 4:30 o'clock with terrific force 
and caused consternation among the several hundred pedestrians in the im- 
mediate vicinity. The explosion was like the roar of a cannon, and as the 
heavy iron cover went heavenward, a wild rush was made for places of 
safety. Women shrieked and collapsed in hallways, while gripmen ducked 
their heads to avoid being crushed. The heavy manhole cover after evolut- 
ing in the air for a brief interval fell to the street. All escaped injury, but 
the opinion expressed by those present was, that the officers of the company 
or companies responsible for the accident should be dealt with summarily. 
This manhole has blown up on nine different occasions within the last few 
weeks aud the escapes many people have had from being killed outright or 
maimed for life by this implement border on miraculous. 

People familiar with the circumstances wisely refrain from traveling in 
the neighborhood. Teamsters and traffickers in general do not cross this 
prominent thoroughfare for obvious reasons, and life insurance companies 
are reluctant to write policies for those who work in the neighborhood. 
The niggardly policy pursued by the Light Company is responsible for this 
condition of things. Grasping this octopus by the neck has not had the de- 
sired effect. A vigorous wringing, however, may cause it to realize that 
the public still has some rights, and to-day the initial work of reform will 
be begun when superintendent of Streets, Burke, interviews the managers 
in his private office. 

The Fifth Avenue and Washington Street manhole has a solid iron cov- 



484 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ering, and in the trench are the wires of the Telephone and the Arc Light 
Companies. Close by is a gas main which leaks more or less all the time, 
and into the trench the gas flows. The arc -light wires are bare in spots, 
and owing to the bad conductor the electric fluid jumps and forms what is 
technically known as an arc. This generates a spark and the gas is ignited. 
An explosion follows as a matter of course, and the manhole goes into the 
air. * * * Superintendent of Streets, Burke, was seen last night and 
placed all the responsibility for the accidents on the shoulders of the Arc 
Company. A meeting was held yesterday afternoon in the office of Mr. 
Kuhns of the Street Department, for the purpose of devising some means 
for doing away with similar accidents in the future. Mr. Wilson of the 
Telephone Company said that the manholes of his company, 722 in number, 
are harmless. * * * 

Mr. Williams, of the Arc Light Company, admits that their conduits 
are not in such good shape, but he declared that every possible effort was 
being made to ventilate the conduits. The vent-pipe system he suggested 
is in use on two or three corners, and gives good satisfaction. It is said that 
gas escapes from the vent in such quantities that it is possible to light and 
maintain a steady flame at the pipe's mouth. * * * "We have not been 
able to reach any definite plan," said Mr. Kuhns, after the conference, 
" but I think we have made good progress. The matter is an important one, 
and should be given immediate attention. I shall discuss the matter with 
Supt. Barrett to-morrow and learn how far the city is interested in a plan 
of ventilation." — Chicago Times, October 28, i8g2. 



SHATTERED BY GAS. 



Explosions Break $20,000 Worth of Window Glass. — Two Men 

Injured. — Force Expended on Michigan Avenue and Monroe. 

— Flames from the Street. — Nearly every Window for a 

Block Blown to Pieces. — Buildings Tremble and Shake. 

Three simultaneous explosions occurred in the big thirty -inch main of 

the Economic Gas Company, which runs along the south side of Monroe 

Street, from Michigan Avenue to Dearborn Street, at 11 o'clock last night, 

one at Michigan Avenue and Monroe, another at Dearborn and Monroe, 

and the other at the entrance to the alley between Michigan and Wabash 

Avenues. The explosion at the corner of Michigan Avenue broke all the 

window glass for a block in either direction, doing damage to the amount 

of $ 20,000. So great was the shock that buildings for two blocks trembled 

and shook as though from an earthquake. 

Two Men Hurt. 
The explosion is believed to have been caused by gas from mains filling 
the big mains for the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Co. This main was open 
at Michigan Avenue and Dearborn Street ends last night, and men were 
working at the Dearborn Street excavation, making connections for the 
gas to be turned on to-day. Thomas Ayers, of Ontario and Market Streets, 
and Frank Bassy, No. 126 Pacific Avenue, were two of the laborers. They 
were both injured, and were taken to their homes in the police ambulance. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 485 



There was a lantern at the Michigan Avenue end of the main, placed 
there as a danger signal on account of the excavation, and, it is believed, 
the escaping gas ignited from it. The lantern was blown to pieces. The air 
was filled with dust, smoke, and splinters of glass, and some of the pieces 
that were sent up highest didn't come down until the policeman on the beat 
reached the scene. 

Sidewalks Strewn with Glass. 

A moment after the explosion the officer on duty at the central detail, 
less than a block from the corner of Michigan Avenue and Monroe, rushed 
out and found the sidewalks for a block in each direction from the corner 
of Monroe and Michigan, covered with small pieces of glass. There was 
not a piece much larger than a postage stamp, and the layer in places was 
more than two inches thick. At the southwest corner of Monroe and 
Michigan Avenue, in front of Heing's tailoring establishment, the layer of 
glass was thickest, and every window in the building was gone. Along 
Michigan Avenue windows were nearly all blown out from Monroe south, 
to the office of the Economic Fuel Gas Company, No. 148, and two hundred 
feet from Monroe north, on Michigan Avenue, the windows are all broken 
for half a block. 

Nearly all the glass on the Monroe Street side of the tall Powers Block, 
at the northwest corner of Monroe and Michigan Avenue, is gone, and the 
streets are covered with powdered glass on all sides. There was a sprinkle 
of pieces of glass at the Palmer House, and on the walk in front of the Chi- 
cago Club, and up and down Wabash Avenue, from Madison to Adams, the 
particles of glass were glistening in the electric light like a sprinkle of snow- 
flakes. 

At the corner of Madison and Michigan Avenue there was a shower of 
glass, and the pieces fell thick for nearly a block in all directions. 

The only man struck by the shower of glass was an old man who was 
watching the pipes and tools at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 
Monroe Street. He had a fire there near Battery D. , and was sitting near it 
when the explosion occurred. 

The big cast-iron main (30-inch) in which the explosion occurred is 
completed from Michigan Avenue to Dearborn Street, but work has been 
done at both ends, and also in the alley 011 the south side of Monroe Street 
between Michigan and Wabash Avenues. 

Flames Twenty-Five Feet High. 

There was an instantaneous explosion which sent a shaft of fire twenty- 
five feet high, making the earth tremble. The workman who was moving 
the lamp was thrown ten feet, however, landing in the soft earth thrown 
out, while the lamp was blown to pieces. Fvery one of the workmen was 
thrown from his feet. 

On Monroe Street, just east of Dearborn, the explosion was violent 
enough to startle the neighborhood, and hundreds ran towards the place. 
Suddenly a huge flame burst from the open end of the pipe in the open 
trench at that point, and then there was a scattering of people. This flame 
lasted but a moment or two. 



486 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The gas in the main was forced through the pipe by the force of the 
explosion and escaped at the excavations in the alley between Dearborn and 
Monroe, where it was set fire by the lamps of the workmen. 

Patrolman Naughton was at Michigan and Adams when the explosion 
occurred, and was thrown down by the force of the explosion. He describes 
the flames as going twenty-five feet high. A car on Michigan Avenue had 
every pane of glass broken by the explosion. 

It was not Natural Gas. 

The idea that seemed to prevail among spectators that the explosion 
was caused by gas from the Indiana fields is all wrong, as not a foot of that 
gas has been turned on said H. H. Chichester, Superintendent of the 
Chicago Contract and Construction Company, who is laying the mains for 
the Economic Company. Manufactured gas from mains of the old company 
had leaked into our thirty-inch main on Monroe Street, and this mixed with 
air was what caused the explosion. An opening was left at Dearborn and 
Monroe Streets three weeks ago owing to obstructions preventing the making 
of a connection with the Dearborn Street main. Men were at work remov- 
ing this obstruction to-night, and some of them, I understand, brought a 
light near enough to our thirty -inch main to ignite the gas. I was in the 
Palmer House at the time of the explosion. It shook the building percep- 
tibly. 

At the office of the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Company it was stated 
that not a foot of natural gas had been turned into the mains on Monroe 
Street, that the main was wide open at both ends, and, if it was responsible 
for the explosion, the gas must have reached it from the old company's 
mains. The men at the Economic Company's office didn't know who would 
have to pay the damage. 

The plate-glass, it was understood, was mostly insured against break- 
age. — Extract from Chicago Tribune, November n, 1892. 



Hold Corporations Responsible. 

The gravity of the explosion on Michigan Avenue should arouse the 
authorities to action. Doss of property is bad, but loss of life is worse, and 
the frequency of explosions in gas mains cannot be much further increased 
without probability of loss of life. 

The loss of property by the explosion in a main of the Economic Gas 
Company is estimated at $20,000. It is only by a miracle of good fortune 
that it was not attended by loss of life. The disaster was caused and was 
due to the shameful carelessness of a corporation that obtained its charter 
under circumstances that indicated wholesale corruption of civic authorities. 
The Assistant Superintendent of the Economic Gas Company, said, in rela- 
tion to the terrific explosion on Michigan Avenue, that gas had got into 
the pipe of his company from the leaky mains of other companies, and so 
produced the explosion. We do not regard this explanation as satisfactory, 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-iRON GAS MAINS. 48? 



though we agree with the Assistant Superintendent that "the ground is full 
of gas." The plain truth is, that little or no attention seems to have been 
given by city authorities, neither by those now in office nor by any of their 
predecessors, to enforcing the law against corporations. It has been left op- 
tional with the gas companies to leave their mains in a leaky condition or 
to make them vapor proof ; generally speaking, they have thought leakage 
cheaper than repair. 

Corporations are by law held responsible if they perform any act or as- 
sume any powers not specially conveyed to them by the people in their char- 
ters or franchises. They are held responsible, also, for failure to do any- 
thing required of them by the charter or franchise from which they derive 
their existence. Were the laws governing corporations rigidly enforced 
against them there would be little or no complaint by the people of the 
abuse of corporate power. But it is notorious that the laws are not enforced 
against them. 

A corporation acquires from the people, through the Board of Aldermen 
or the State Legislature, a right to lay tracks, to excavate gas mains, to put 
electric wires overhead or underground, or to do something requisite for the 
completion of a purpose for which its charter or franchise was granted. But 
the right to do such thing is accompanied by the restriction that no public 
right shall be lessened by the act of the corporation. If it lay its tracks it 
must not endanger life or limb of the people. If it tear up the street it must 
relay the pavement in as good form as it found it ; it it excavate a main and 
lay gas pipes it must make its pipes tight, must wall its mains securely, 
must, in short, subject the persons and the property of the people to no 
danger. 

It, unfortunately, is notorious that these provisions of the law are seldom 
enforced. The streets are torn up by car companies, by electric conduit 
companies, by gas companies, by any one of the many corporations upon 
which our Board of Aldermen have conferred franchises in return for certain 
considerations, but the pavement very rarely is replaced in good order. 
There are streets on which it is absolutely dangerous to drivers of vehicles 
011 account of the non-enforcement of the law against corporations who have 
torn up the pavements and have not properly replaced them. The tax upon 
citizens for repavement of streets that have been damaged by the criminal 
negligence of corporations runs into the tens of thousands of dollars yearly. 
It is time the city authorities laid the hand of the law upon corporations. — 
Editorial, Chicago Inter-Ocean, November 12, 1S92. 



The last cast-iron gas pipe explosion noted was that which 
occurred Thursday night, Nov. 10, 1892. 

Three days later, and but two blocks distant from the scene of 
the former explosion, was another gas blow-up, the account of 
which is given in the Chicago papers. We copy extracts from 
the article appearing in The Tribune, Monday, November 14th, 



)2 



488 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ONE MORE EXPLOSION. 
A Gas Blow-up at Adams and La Salle Streets. — A Fiery Tongue 
Shoots Twenty-five Feet into the Air after Four Sharp 
Reports. — Big Buildings Tremble. — Employes of the Chicago 
Edison Company Hurled along the Trenches they are Dig- 
ging. — The Gas and Electric Companies Blame Each Other. — 
Other Street Troubles. 

There was another big gas explosion in the street yesterday morning 
resembling the one on Michigan Avenue a few nights ago, but not so 
destructive to plate-glass windows. People of sensitive nerves and timid 
disposition say they are beginning to regard excavations in the streets as 
liable to eruptions at any moment, like volcanoes on a small scale. 

The explosion yesterday morning was at La Salle and Adams Streets 
and the irrepressible manhole cover came in as a part of the performance. 
It took a flight through the upper air. 

One of the men engaged on the work had a blow-lamp soldering the 
joint. Suddenly there came a small explosion, then a second, next a third 
and finally a fourth one of such tremendous force as to shake the massive 
surrounding structures. 

Flames Leaped into the Air. 
A column of blue flame, with top fiery red, shot twenty-five feet up 
into the air, and the cover of the manhole in the middle of one of the street 
car tracks and some of the granite pavement-blocks went up with it. The 
men in the pit were hurled some distance along the net-work of gas and 
electric pipes. A citizen whose name could not be learned, who was looking 
on, was lifted from his feet and tossed to the curbstone on the north side of 
Adams Street (about fifty feet from the excavation), and showers of dirt fell 
around and struck the bystanders. There was a panicky rush from the 
spot and a counter rush of the curious from all directions in the neighbor- 
hood. 

What the Officials Say. 

The Edison superintendent claimed that the cast-iron gas pipes were 
rotten with age and rust, and were continually leaking. A City Hall em- 
ploye who was making an investigation said, "The company ought to be 
compelled to remove pipes like those where the explosion occurred when- 
ever the streets are open and replace them with new ones. 

After the explosion all work stopped. The men in charge were afraid 
to resume operations in the pit. 

The odor of the gas in the neighborhood was strong, showing that it 
was escaping in considerable quantities, and the use of the blow-lamp in 
the pit under the circumstances was considered risky, to say the least. 



TWO MORE MEN OVERCOME BY GAS. 
The Leak in the Main at Dearborn and Madison Streets 

Finally Stopped. 
All night Monday and until a late hour yesterday afternoon fumes of 
gas escaped from the great hole that the Chicago Gas Light and Coke Com- 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 489 



pany had dug at Monroe and Dearborn Streets. So strong were these fumes 
during the morning that many in the crowds which passed the corner were 
seized with sudden faintness and were forced to hurry along at the top of 
their speed to avoid being overcome. Two laborers were rendered tempor- 
arily unconscious while working to stop the leak yesterday morning. 

James Roberts and five other workmen were overcome by the rush of 
gas Friday evening. * * * The foreman in charge of the gang of work- 
men ordered the hole to be filled with earth. Twenty men shovelled the 
dirt into the excavation, and in an hour it was filled level with the street, 
smothering the escaping gas and allowing a portion of it to flow on through 
the leaky main. Gradually, however, the gas escaped upward through the 
loose dirt, and by midnight the condition of the surrounding atmosphere 
was such that a lighted match would have probably produced an explosion. 

At 4 o'clock A. M. men were set to work to renew the excavation. 
They worked without lanterns or light of any kind except that furnished by 
the electric lamps on the streets. About 4:30 o'clock two Italian laborers 
were overcome and rendered unconscious by the fumes. They were laid out 
on the sidewalk and restored to their normal condition only after a hard 
struggle. At 8 o'clock when the clerks in neighboring business houses began 
to come down to their work the odor was awful. W. B. Emery, an order 
clerk with the banking firm of E. L. Brewster & Co. , Monroe and Dearborn 
Streets, was almost overcome and felt the results all day. In R. Wo-slikck's 
restaurant, beneath the Stock Exchange Building, the fumes were very 
dense during the morning, but no one was overcome. Gradually toward 
evening, after the break had been closed, the gas fumes ceased to fill the 
neighborhood.- — Chicago Tribune, November 30, iSg2. 



WATCHING FOR AN EXPLOSION. 

Leak in a Gas Main Makes Business Men Apprehensive. — Persons 

Made Sick. 

Within a radius of seventy-five feet on the west side of State Street there 
are eleven manholes. They cover conduits of all sizes and shapes which 
literally honeycomb the streets. At the present time the business men and 
their employes of that vicinity are in a state of terror, because they are 
daily expecting an explosion. 

For some days past Monroe Street from State to Michigan Avenue has 
been so filled with the odor of escaping gas that persons passing along have 
been made deathly sick. Business houses and residences have been filled 
from their basements to their roofs, and young women have been forced to 
give up their positions because they could not stand the stifling atmosphere. 

There is evidently a bad leak somewhere, but it has not been located. 
In fact, no one but the business men have endeavored to locate it. A short 
time ago Monroe Street, on the south side, was torn up from State Street to 
AVabash Avenue, for the purpose of making repairs. It is thought that the 
workmen might have broken a gas main or knocked off a connection and 
covered it up without repairing it. The gas has got into the conduits and 
passed to the manholes mentioned, as it is at this corner that the odor is 
most pronounced. 



490 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The officers on the corner have been complained to, and they say that 
they have in turn notified the gas company and health department, but as 
yet nothing has been done. — Chicago News Record, December 10, 1892. 



Measure Recommended to Compel Gas Companies to Guard 
Against Explosions. 
Mayor Washburn sent in a message calling attention to recent gas 
explosions, and suggested that a proposed ordinance be passed. * * * 
The Mayor says action is imperative. The Fire Marshal sent in a recom- 
mendation on the same subject. — Chicago Times, January 17th, 1893. 



SIXTEEN OVERCOME BY GAS. 
Strange Happening in Several Houses on Milwaukee Avenue 

Discovered this Morning. — Two of the Victims are Likely to 

Die.— Defective Pipes cause the Sickness of Whole Families. 

— Mystery about the Affair. 

Sixteen people were found overcome by gas at an early hour this morn- 
ing in a row of buildings at 1608 to 1614 Milwaukee Avenue. Two of the 
victims, a mother and her child, have been taken to the county hospital, 
and will probably die. The others will, it is believed, live. 

It was about 10:30 last night when the odor of gas was first detected in 
the building at 1608 Milwaukee Avenue. Some of the tenants in that and 
in other buildings in the vicinity were confident that gas was coming in, 
but they could not tell how or where. An hour or so later a Mr. Caffery 
was found lying on the floor insensible. He had been overcome by the 
fumes of gas which completely filled the room. An officer was called and 
he quickly went through the adjoining buildings and found the inmates 
completely stupefied by the noxious vapors. Most of them were unconscious 
and lay as though struck down by some strange, deadly disease. 

Speedy action was necessary, and the officer hastened and secured the 
services of two physicians. Many of the victims were in convulsions, and 
the doctors had a hard time of it. In all but two cases, however, the safety 
of the patients is believed to be assured. 

As soon as daylight came the gas company was notified, and workmen 
were dispatched to the scene to determine the cause of the strange affair. 
About all they could say was, that there was a bad leak somewhere in the 
pipes. They could not tell just where the leakage was occurring, and at 
once set to work excavating in order to reach and repair the break. — Chicago 
Evening News, January 19, 1893. 



Another Manhole Explosion. 
A small panic was created at 5 o'clock last evening at the corner of 
Randolph and La Salle Streets by the explosion of a manhole. Randolph 
Street car No. 860 was approaching from the west, and the horses had just 
reached the manhole when the explosion occurred. The horses, frightened 
by the noise, jumped to one side, dragging the car with them off the track 
and down La Salle Street. Officer Mathews seized the animals in time to 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 491 



prevent a runaway. The manhole cover was blown twenty-five feet into 
the air. It fell without doing any injury beyond a broken flange on a street 
car wheel. — Chicago Daily Globe, January 2jth, 1S93. 



Gas Main Explosion. — The New Appraisers Warehouse on 
Market Street 

Had a narrow escape from destruction Saturday night, and, but for the 
promptness of Capt. Cook, the watchman, the warehouse and its valuable 
contents might to-day have been a total loss. 

The building had been closed for the night, the sole occupant being 
Capt. Cook. Suddenly the lights went out as the result of the breaking of 
a three-inch gas main. The Captain hurriedly went below, and, after 
throwing up the windows in the basement, called a fireman and policeman 
to assist him. Had the gas reached the fires in the boilers, the result would 
have been disastrous to life and property. — Chicago Mail, Monday, January 
3°, 1893. 

ARK IN A STATE OF CHRONIC ERUPTION. 

Four Manholes that Make Life at Jackson and Clark Streets 

a Burden. 
Four manholes at Jackson and Clark Streets are making things inter- 
esting for the [public these days. Two of them confine their operations to 
hoisting unsuspecting citizens skyward by spasmodic explosions, while the 
other two keep steadily at work breaking wagons and carriages. On the 
east side of the street is a manhole owned, but not controlled, by the Arc 
Light and Power Company. It has been quite restless lately. Yesterday, 
John Casey, one of the company's workmen, undertook to fix it. Fifteen 
minutes later kindly bystanders raised a man with a badly burned face, who 
said his name was Casey, and that he needed a rest. Just to show what it 
could do, the manhole on the west corner, owned by the same company, 
exploded with a noise like a howitzer and 300 people dodged the falling 
cover. — Chicago Tribune, February 14, 1893. 



To Prevent Manhole Explosions. 
Permits have been issued to the Sectional Underground Company allow- 
ing it to excavate the streets early in the Spring for the purpose of fitting 
manholes with ventilating devices. Commissioner Kuhns experimented with 
several systems last fall and adopted an arrangement providing for pipe 
connection with the open air at the curb line. Mr. Kuhns hopes the arrange- 
ment when once completed will remove the danger of explosion. — The Chi- 
cago Times, Thursday, February 16, 1893. 

Query: — Will putting vent pipes at the curb line prevent the 
leakage of gas from the cast-iron mains, or will it simply prevent 
the blowing up of manholes ? Why not compel the gas com- 
panies to lay gas mains that will not leak ? 



492 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The following editorial in the Fire and Water of Feb. n, 
is submitted as bearing directly upon the subject: 

Water works superintendents and engineers cannot be too particular in 
the matter of thorough inspection of cast-iron pipe. It is not always their 
fault, as sometimes other people besides the water board make the appoint- 
ment of an inspector at the foundry— someone with a pull, and generally a 
political pull. It would be cheaper to let political parties create an in- 
firmary for housing this class of men and pay their expenses than it is to 
have them occupy positions which enable them to pass upon work bad in 
construction, and which when in place fails of its purpose, often doing dam- 
age that costs thousands of dollars to make good, besides inconveniencing 
an entire community. Not a great while ago an accident happened to a 
water main which cost a town a great deal of money. An examination of 
the fractured pipe led to an investigation, which evidenced the fact that the 
particular pipe which caused so much damage, although numbered and 
marked and checked in the daily report as inspected under test, had never had 
any test in presence of the inspector, in fact, the inspector was not very 
far away, but was engaged in playing a game of dominos. Now, if the 
inspector had been a thoroughbred politician we could overlook that, but to 
be one and not an inspector that knew his duty, is downright malfeasance. 
If politicians must be appointed, let it be understood that they must know 
and attend to their business. 

The marked progress and practicable development of wrought-iron and 
steel in the arts, its gradual cheapening in price as a product of improved 
methods of manufacture, its strength and durability, and its lightness in 
weight compared with cast-iron, brings it before the engineer and mechanic 
as a powerful competitor of cast-iron. It looks as though steel pipe will 
soon be made of any size in diameter and length of one piece with equal 
integrity of strength and durability in every part. Its weight, compared 
with cast-iron, and of equal strength, will form hereafter an important fac- 
tor of calculation in the matter of cost of transportation, all other things 
being equal. — Fire and Water, Neiv York, February u, i8gj. 

The above editorials, from a " thoroughbred-cast-iron- 
water-pipe-editor," are, to our minds, very significant. 

The references made to the methods of the cast-iron pipe 
manufacturers to have their pipe accepted without first being 
properly inspected and tested, would indicate that it is their 
habit to put poor iron in their castings, notwithstanding the 
offers made in their proposals and their agreements, both in the 
contract and under the specifications, which, as a rule provide 
that the metal entering into the manufacture of the pipe shall 
be of the best quality for the purpose. 

Have a Close Call. 

Scores of people who stood about the corners of Madison and Dearborn 
Streets last night had a narrow escape. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 493 

At eight o'clock two manholes blew up, the explosions being simul- 
taneous. 

The covers were blown thirty or forty feet into the air and were both 
shattered. 

For a time there was great excitement, and people fled in fear of another 
explosion. That no one was injured seems miraculous, since some of the 
bystanders were almost on the covers. Several were struck by pieces of 
dirt, but fortunately the fragments of the broken castings fell without doing 
any damage. — Chicago Tribune, February 21, iSgj. 



TWO MANHOLES BLOW UP. 

The La Salle Street Cover Makes its Twelfth Journey 
Skyward. 

Two manholes situated within a block of each other exploded a few 
minutes before one o'clock this afternoon. 

The cover of the manhole at Washington and La Salle Streets, which 
never misses shooting up into the air : with painful regularity, was the first 
to begin an ascent toward the sky. It had hardly secured a good start on 
its upward journey, when the cover at the entrance at Washington and Clark 
Streets flew skyward. 

Many pedestrians were in the vicinity, and they lost no time in dis- 
appearing, while the irons played tag with each other near the housetops. 

This makes the twelfth journey the cover at Washington and La Salle 
Streets has made toward the sky, and its next outing is looked forward to 
with no little apprehension by the policeman who perambulates about the 
crossing and others who are in the habit of walking in that vicinity. — Chi- 
cago Mail, April 20, /Sgj. 

Manhole Cover Blows up. 
Pedestrians near Clark and Jackson Streets, at noon to-day, were sud- 
denly started by a loud explosion. The manhole at the corner had blown up 
with a loud noise and knocked the iron cover several feet in the air. The 
affair was caused by the underground wires. No one was injured. — Chicago 
Mail, December 22a 1 , iSgj. 

Explosions of Gas in a Manhole — Many Persons Shocked. 

The manhole at the northeast corner of Washington street and Fifth ave- 
nue blew up shortly after 7 o'clock last night. Many persons were in the 
vicinity at the time, and several were struck by pieces of stone but not seri- 
ously injured. The stone paving for several yards around was upheaved. 
The explosion was the result of Frank Hunt's experimenting with the gase- 
ous odor he noticed in the vicinity. Some time ago a standpipe ventilator 
was placed at the edge of the sidewalk to allow the escape of gas in the man- 
hole. Considerable gas was escaping through this ventilation when Hunt 
came along and started to investigate. He finally located the gas in the 
standpipe. "Just to see what the thing would do," he struck a match and 
applied it at the top. The result exceeded his expectations. The explosion 
which followed threw him off his feet and dazed him for several minutes. A 



494 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



horse belonging to O. N. Loar, which was standing close by, was lifted sev- 
eral feet in the air. In a few minutes a large crowd was gathered. When 
Frank Hunt had been restored to consciousness a central station officer ap- 
peared and placed him under arrest. — Chicago Tribune, January 5th, /8g4. 



Five Manhole Covers Blow Up. 

Five manhole covers, two of them on Jackson Street and the other three 
on Dearborn Street, between Jackson and Adams Streets, blew out about 2:30 
o'clock yesterday afternoon, causing a great deal of excitement among the 
pedestrians but fortunately hurting no one. 

The cover located at Adams and Dearborn Streets was on tighter than 
the others and was hurled about fifty feet skyward. In its descent it narrowly 
missed an Adams Street horse-car which was going east at the time. 

These coverings are placed over openings in an electric wire conduit 
owned by the Edison Company, The explosions are caused by the ignition 
of sewer and illuminating gases which accumulate in the conduit, and are 
fired off by the leakage of the electric light wires. — Inter-Ocean, February 3, 
1894- 

Series of Manhole Explosions. 

There was another series of manhole explosions in the down-town 
district last night. 

The first iron cover to go skyward was near the corner of Jackson and 
Clark Streets, and following in quick succession were explosions at Jackson 
and Dearborn, Ouincy and Dearborn and at Adams and Dearborn. The 
streets were crowded at the time, but no one was reported injured. Some of 
the iron covers went into the air as high as fifteen feet. 

The recent damp weather is said to be the cause of the explosions. — 
Chicago Record, February 6th, 1894. 



Big Verdict in Favor op a Boy. 
Stanislaus Jeschke, 7 years old, was given a verdict for $15,000 j^ester- 
day against the city of Chicago and the People's Gas Eight and Coke Com- 
pany in Judge Blanke's court. The suit was for damages for personal 
injuries. In June, 1889, Jeschke was walking on Dixon Street, near Black- 
hawk, when an explosion occurred in a manhole. The boy was badly in- 
jured. The jury first found damages against the People's Gas Eight and 
Coke Company for $13,000 and the city for $2,000. The court instructed the 
jury that they could not return such a verdict, and sent them back to the 
jury-room. They then returned a verdict of $15,000 against both defend- 
ants. — Chicago Herald, February 7, 1894. 

Injured by a Manhole Explosion. 

E. A. Bixby, of Hammond, was passing the corner of Madison and 

Clark Streets at 9.30 o'clock yesterday morning when the cover of the 

manhole was thrown into the air by a gas explosion. It was broken in 

pieces, and one of the fragments struck Bixby on the right leg. He is a 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 495 



postal clerk employed in the service between Chicago and Duluth. — Chicago 
Daily News, Feb. 13, 1894. 

Manhole Covers have no Respect for City Father. 
An alderman was passing the corner of Clark and Adams Streets when 
a manhole explosion occurred, and the heavy cover in its flight through the 
air just grazed the alderman, knocking him into the mud. Although some- 
what stunned, Mr. O'Neill escaped with no more injur)' than a bruised leg 
and a mudbespattered suit of clothes. — Chicago Daily Nezvs, March 10, 
^94- 

Two Terrieic Explosions. 

Two terrific explosions startled the pedestrians in the neighborhood of 
Clark and Jackson Streets at eleven o'clock this morniug. Officer Jacob 
Brown, who does duty on that corner, was lifted off his feet ; the drivers of 
several teams which were passing at the time had a hard time in holding 
their horses in check, and in a few seconds hundreds of people had gathered 
around. 

The two manholes had exploded. The iron plate covering one of them, 
belonging to the Western Union Telegraph Company, was thrown five feet in 
the air, and was broken in two pieces, one-half falling back into the hole. 
No one was injured. — Chicago Daily News, April jo, 1894. 



DENVER, COLORADO. 

Sickened by Escaping Water Gas. — Denver People Suffering 
from its Effects. 
Denver, Jan. 7. — Sickness has been caused in this city by escaping 
gas. * * * Gas has escaped and found its way through leaky joints into 
cellars and store rooms and private residences, causing sickness. Complaint 
has been made to the health department, investigation instituted and the 
above facts substantiated. In several cases women have fainted in dry 
goods stores from the effects of the odor. When the stores are opened in 
the morning it is almost impossible to enter them, so full of the gas are 
they. The officers of the company claim this will cease in time, but the 
inspectors cannot see it that way. A more thorough and searching inves- 
tigation has been ordered. — Chicago Herald, January Slh, 1893. 



DAVENPORT, IOWA. 

GASES THAT KILL. 

Two Deaths in Davenport, Iowa, from Asphyxiation.— The Gas 

Escaped from a Broken Main. 

Davenport, Ia., Jan. 30. — (Special.) — The death of two well-known 

citizens by asphyxiation, the narrow escape of four others, and an explosion 

in the largest store in town have failed of a satisfactory explanation. The 

cause is under consideration of a coroner's jury. 



496 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



This morning a working girl found her store, No. 211 Main St., closed, 
and while looking for the cause, went up-stairs. 

There she found Mrs. Phil. Damn, the proprietor, two children and a 
domestic stupefied in their beds. They were taken out into the fresh air, 
and are now beyond danger, except the two children. Two hours later it 
was learned that the occupants of an adjoining room had not been seen. 
The door was forced. On the bed was one lifeless body and on the floor 
another, partially dressed. The former was Louis Franklin. He lived in 
Davenport, and was a travelling salesman for Hart & Co. The latter was 
Charles C. Rapp, now a clerk in a local store. Rapp and Franklin were 
great friends, and the latter had invited the former to spend the night at his 
apartments. 

There was a strong smell of illuminating gas in the building, and as 
there are no gas pipes, it is held that a leaky gas main must have done the 
work. 

The sewer on Main Street was examined to-day and was found to be 
full of illuminating gas, and it is asserted that there was enough illumin- 
ating gas in the sewer to cause an explosion if a lighted match had been 
dropped. * It is feared that a main has burst, and that the deadly 

gas is finding its way to the surface, where the resistance from frost is least. 
Stores and offices a block away from the scene of the deaths were charged 
with gas early this morning. — Chicago Tribune, January 31, 1893. 



NEW YOEK CITY. 
SMALL EARTHQUAKE. 
Three Subway Explosions at Broadway and Twenty-Third Street. 
— Paving Stones in the Air.— Hundreds of Excited Pedestri- 
ans Rush eor Safety. 

Three explosions took place in the Electrical Subway at twenty minutes 
before noon to day ; two of them at the corner of Twenty-third Street and 
Broadway, and the third in front of the entrance to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. 

In the Air. 

Policeman Ray nor, of the Broadway squad, was standing on the cross- 
walk near the northwest corner, within a few feet of the big iron cover of 
the subway manhole, when suddenly there came a loud explosion. A 
section of the street in front of hira seemed to rise up in the air as high as 
the electric lamp post on the corner. It was a mass of dirt and granite 
street blocks, in which could be seen the great iron plate and frame, weigh- 
ing about 2,000 pounds. 

There was an immediate scattering of the passers-by in every direction. 
Men yelled, women screamed, and horses attached to passing vehicles 
became so unmanageable that it was with great difficulty the drivers pre- 
vented them from running away. 

Another Explosion. 
In another moment came the sound of a second explosion, and another 
column of dirt, paving stones, and manhole plate rose in the air. This was 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 497 



from the subway manhole on the opposite side of Twenty-third Street. 
This was not so violent as the first, but it added to the terror of those in the 
vicinity. 

A number of persons were thrown to the ground, and one man had two 
fingers of his right hand broken. Policeman Raynor was struck with a 
paving stone, but he was only slightly bruised. 

A carnage belonging to Mason's livery stable, standing near the curb, 
was badly damaged by the flying stones. The occupant of the carriage, Mrs. 
Richenstein, of No. 39 East Seventy-fifth Street, fainted away, and was 
taken home suffering severely from shock. 

Superintendent Hart was communicative. Pie said it was like other 
similar explosions, undoubtedly caused by the gas which had found its way 
into the conduit. 

The Same Old Story. 

Subway Commissioner Hess was found in front of the Fifth Avenue 
Hotel examining the manhole of the subway at that point. There had been 
a slight explosion there, which had dislodged a number of paving stones 
and nearly upset a cab which stood over it. 

"It is the same old story of gas in the subway," said the Commis- 
sioner. " I mean illuminating gas, which has leaked from adjoining cast- 
iron mains. The whole street is saturated with this gas, and the open space 
of our manholes acts as a receiving vault for it." 

Mr. Hess said that every manhole was pumped clear of gas two or three 
times a w r eek. 

Smelled oe Gas. 

Detective Pryor, of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, said that last night there 
was such a smell of gas in the hotel that the gasman made an investiga- 
tion, but could find no leak in the house pipes. — New York Evening Tele- 
gram, March 23, iSSg. 



SLEEPING VOLCANOES. 

Dangerous Conditions Under our Streets. — The Expert Under 
Whose Charge the Subway Conduits Were Built, Says They 
are Liable to Explode with Terrible Force and Disastrous 
Results at Any Moment. 

" I would not be surprised to hear at any time that a half-dozen or a 
dozen of people were blown into eternity by just such an explosion as that 
which occurred in front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel yesterday. In fact, I am 
surprised that these explosions have not caused loss of life long ago." 

These startling words came from the lips of Engineer Wheeler, the ex- 
pert of the Subway Commission which controls the conduits in which the 
explosions occurred. 

' ' It was only by sheer good luck that the people walking near the 
Fifth Avenue Hotel were not killed," he continued. "The explosions were 
sufficiently violent to cause loss of life, but, by a miraculous dispensation of 



498 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Providence, the people who were in the vicinity at the time were not over 
the centre of the explosion. The force of the explosion may be judged 
from the fact that the covering of a manhole, weighing many hundred 
pounds, was thrown ten feet into the air and the pavements shaken as if by 
an earthquake. And the worst of it is that a similar explosion, or even a 
more violent one, may occur any day in the year and in any of the many 
streets where the subway has been constructed. As these streets cover the 
most frequented parts of the city, the consequences may be very disastrous. 

" To what cause do I attribute the explosion ? Well, I have investigated 
other explosions in the last few months, those on Park Row, on Bowling 
Green and at the corner of Maiden Lane and Pearl Street, and all who have 
looked into the matter agree with me that the cause was the leakage of gas 
from the mains into the subway. 

" The gas companies — especially the Consolidated Company — are re- 
sponsible for these dangerous explosions. They use such bad pipes that the 
ground within several feet of them is thoroughly saturated with gas. I have 
made experiments, and I know. I have dug into the earth over the pipes 
only two feet and found the gas so dense that I could light it and it would 
burn several minutes, notwithstanding the pressure of the fresh air. This 
indicates the enormous quantity of gas which pours from the pipes ready at 
any moment to explode. 

Slumbering Volcanoes in the Streets. 

" Why is it that such quantities of gas escape? Simply because some 
companies use inferior pipe, pipe filled with sandholes. It may surprise the 
public, but it is a fact that 25 or 30 per cent, of the gas which goes through 
the pipes escapes through these holes, saturates the ground and leaves the 
people standing on a sort of volcano which may pour forth at any time and 
cause loss of life. 

" Supposing that gas is the principal cause of the explosion, what do 
you think causes the explosive action of the gas?" 

" That is just the point that we are trying to determine. Only one 
thing is certain, and that is that the action is spontaneous. The top of the 
manholes are so secured that no extraneous object can bring about an ex- 
plosion. Even water cannot penetrate them. We are now experimenting 
on these gases. They are closed up in bottles, and we are awaiting to find 
out how they can explode without coming into contact with fire. ' ' 

" What do you think of the theory that the ventilating apparatus of the 
subway pressed the gases to a certain point and caused the trouble ?' ' 

" That is nonsense. Blowing air into the subway cannot concentrate 
gas at a certain point. Every scientific man knows that." 

The Remedy. 

" What, then, would you suggest as a remedy for the danger that 
threatens the city?" 

" A perfect remedy would be to induce the gas companies to use good 
pipe. They should subject it before using it to hydraulic pressure, as they 
do in Boston and other cities. The pipe that can bear the pressure is sure 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 499 



to be without sandholes. The trouble is that the gas companies buy up in- 
ferior pipe on account of its cheapness and endanger the lives of the people 
in order to make a little more money. I should think it would be to the 
interest of the companies to avoid the loss of 25 or 30 per cent, of their gas ; 
but they seem to think differently. Gas is very cheap for the producers, 
and they think the loss is more than compensated for by the saving in the 
pipes. If these were good pipes, I am sure two-thirds of the gas now escaping 
into the subways could be retained in the pipes." 

The gas companies of this city are the Consolidated, which has gobbled 
up the Municipal and the Manhattan; the Mutual and the Standard. All 
the companies are said to have adopted the same methods, except in the use 
of water-gas. 

Commissioner Daniel L. Gibbens agrees with Mr. Wheeler that the ex- 
plosion yesterday was caused by the leakage of gas, and was in no way at- 
tributable to. the electric light and telegraph wires in the subway. 

The Board has decided that, until the companies mend their pipes, the 
only way to cope with the gas is to force into the inside of the manholes a 
sufficient quantity of air to resist the pressure of gas from the outside. 

The Dangerous Manholes. 

The manhole accidents have been many. Last year two workmen were 
found nearly dead in one of them on Sixth avenue. One of the men died 
a few hours later. The coroner's verdict was death by asphyxiation. On 
Park Row, last fall, three men were blown out of a manhole One of them 
was seriously injured. The explosion was caused by a lighted match which 
was dropped into the manhole. Other explosions on Nassau street, the 
Bowery and Pearl street, caused damage — and all were caused, the experts 
say, by leakage of gas. 

The manholes and pavements in front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel are all 
right to-day. No signs of the explosion are apparent. 

Mayor Grant Aeive to the Danger. 

Mayor Grant was asked today what he thought about Mr. Wheeler's 
idea of the explosion, and what should be done to prevent similar occur- 
rences in future. He said : 

"I agree with Mr. Wheeler about the danger. An explosion which 
might occur at any time might cause loss of life and damage to property. 
This thing cannot be allowed to go on. There have been enough explosions 
within a year to give warning. The danger must be obviated, but just how 
I cannot say on the spur of the moment. From all that I can learn, the 
trouble comes from a leakage of the gas pipes ; so it seems that reform must 
begin here. Such leakages and possible accidents arising therefrom should 
have been considered before the subways were started ; but, as these things 
were overlooked and the subways are so near completion, the matter re- 
quires careful consideration before acting. When the Board of Electrical 
Control hears from the gas companies, a plan of action can be determined 
upon. Anyhow, one thing is certain, namely, that the cause of the danger 
must go. M — New York Commercial Advertiser, March 26, 1889. 



500 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



MORE PERILS UNDERGROUND. 

Senator Erwin's Committee Hears About Leaky Gas Mains. — Our 

Soie Permeated with Gas, Lowber Smith Says, and Health 

and Life Endangered.— Gen. Sickles' Experience Running 

Gas Works and Getting Biles for Gas He Didn't Burn. — 

Remedies Proposed. 

Senator George Z. Erwin, who has been investigating the underground 
system in New York, has come to the conclusion that it is safer to live in 
St. Lawrence County and burn oil than to run the risk of being blown up by 
subway explosions or poisoned by gas in New York City. The Senate Com- 
mittee on General Laws, of which he is the Chairman, and which has been 
trying to find out whether a State Board of Supervision should be established 
to have authority over all the underground systems, met yesterday at the 
Hotel Metropole. The members present were Senators Erwin, Coggeshall, 
Vedder, Brown, Van Gorder and Chase. 

General Daniel E. Sickles, who was the first witness called by the com- 
mittee 3?esterday, told about the waste of gas from excessive pressure on the 
mains and from imperfect pipes and fixtures. This leakage was not only 
dangerous to health, but costly to consumers, as General Sickles knew from 
personal experience. 

" The companies make the consumer pay for the waste," he said. 

"What remedy would you propose for these existing evils?" asked 
Senator Erwin. 

General Sickles said that one solution of the difficulty was public owner- 
ship of the gas works, as in France, Germany and England. 

"Another evil," General Sickles continued, " is the high pressure which 
forces the gas into the soil. A large proportion of sickness in this city is 
due to the amount of gas that escapes from the soil wherever it is opened. 
There is a lack of supervision in these matters. The inspector of gas meters 
is paid by the companies, and has neither the experience nor the facilities 
necessary to protect the consumers." 

In answer to Senator Erwin's questions, General Sickles said that we 
need a Gas Commission appointed by the Governor, which should have 
control of the whole subject, with scientific experts in its employ. This 
commission should have the courage to look a gas company in the face, and 
the power to investigate and correct these evils. 

D. Lowber Smith, ex-Commissioner of Public Works, said that the 
escape of gas in the city was so great that in some places enough gas could 
be found by driving a crowbar down through the pavement to make a con- 
siderable blaze. On Madison Avenue, between Twenty-third and Thirty- 
fourth vStreets, where asphalt pavement is used, there is no way for the gas 
to escape through the streets. Consequently a great deal of it forces its way 
under the curbs into the basements and cellars on either side of the street. 
The Department of Public Works had received a large number of complaints 
from people living in that part of the city about escaping gas. There are 
four distinct gas mains in that part of Madison Avenue. 

" What remedy woidd you propose?" asked Senator Erwin. 

' ' The gas system of this city would be greatly improved by consoli- 
dation," answered Mr. Smith. "There are too many mains in the same 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 501 



streets. If the city furnished the gas, or in any way the number of mains 
could be reduced, it would greatly decrease the leakage. The city has now 
no authority over the gas companies. I think that the Department of 
Public Works should have authority to appoint an efficient inspector to 
correct many of these abuses. ' ' 

Mr. Smith said that he thought the gas leakage in this city amounted 
to fifteen per cent. 

Horace Loomis, engineer of the Department of Public Works, believed 
that there was urgent need of supervision on the part of the city of the gas 
companies. 

George W. Birdsall, Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, said that 
the lower part of the city was gridironed with pipes of one sort and anothei - , 
and many of them were in a dangerous condition. When there was a leak 
it was impossible to tell at once which pipe was in need of repairs. Mr. 
Birdsall thought that it would hardly be practicable to put all the gas mains 
in one conduit. In his opinion all the underground pipes should be run 
through vaults where they could be examined every day without tearing up 
the streets. Mr. Birdsall said that he had seen some pipes so badly corroded 
that it was possible to break them with the hand. Some of the mains were 
simple holes in the ground, surrounded bj^ rust. Mr. Birdsall also thought 
that the Commissioner of Public Works should have jurisdiction over the 
gas companies, and should have the power to make the necessary repairs if 
the companies refused to do it. 

Leonard F. Beckwith, Chief Engineer of the Consolidated Telegraph 
and Electrical Subway Company, alarmed Senator Erwin with his account 
of the dangers of subway explosions. The gas that escaped, he said, nat- 
urally filled up the manholes and formed a dangerous mixture with the air. 
The subway company had been trying to expel gas from the subwavs. This 
danger in New York was such a threatening one that a double set of covers 
was provided for each manhole. Mr. Beckwith said that in one city pro- 
vided with subways and leaking gas a fire engine struck one of the caps of 
a manhole and at the same time a burning coal fell into the manhole. An 
explosion followed which threw the fire engine over on its side. Mr. Beck- 
with estimated the gas leakage in the lower part of the city at about twenty 
per cent., and in the upper part of the city at about twelve per cent. This 
leakage, he thought, could be reduced to three or four per cent. In Paris 
wrought-iron pipes wrapped in asphalt were used, and the saving in leakage 
paid for the extra expense of the pipes. 

Joseph Flannery, Chief Engineer of the Standard Gas Company, said 
that if Mr. Beckwith's estimates of the gas leakage were correct it would 
be impossible to live in New York. There was annually forced into the gas 
mains in this city 10,000,000 cubic feet of gas a mile. He thought a State 
Commission would place an intelligent medium between the gas companies 
and the people. 

The committee adjourned the investigation at this point until next 
Saturday, and spent the evening dodging manholes and breathing through 
their handkerchiefs to escape gas poisoning. — -New York World. 



502 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



THE LEAKING GAS MAINS. 

Testimony Before the General Taws Committee. — General 
Sickles Relates an Experience. — Opinions of Expert Wit- 
nesses on the Gas Companies. 

Messrs. Erwin, Vedder, Coggeshall, Van Gorder and Chase, of the State 
Senate Committee on General Laws, resumed the investigation, at the Hotel 
Metropole in this city yesterday, of the alleged injury to citizens from the 
leaking gas mains and steam pipes and electric wires in the streets. 

The first witness was Sheriff Daniel E. Sickles, who related an experi- 
ence he had with a gas company about 1882. He then lived at No. 14 Fifth 
Avenue. There was some trouble about gas bills in the house, some of the 
persons being away a good deal, but getting their gas bills all the same. 
General Sickles wrote the company a letter on the subject. A month or 
two later he went to Europe, first instructing the janitor of the apartment 
where he lived to turn off the gas at the meter and use none during his 
absence. On his return, after several mouths, he received bills for gas for 
all the time he was away, while the gas was turned off. He refused to pay 
the bills and the company took steps to shut off his gas supply. He ob- 
tained an injunction to prevent this, and invited the company to sue him for 
the gas he did not use. The result was a good deal of litigation, but he had 
never paid for the gas. 

General Sickles added that he had observed the smell of leaking gas 
in the streets for years and it constituted a nuisance injurious to health. 
The remedy was to hold any company with leaking gas mains responsible for 
committing a nuisance, just as a private individual would be held. If the 
law did not afford a good remedy it should be amended. He thought gas 
companies should be under the supervision of proper State officers. The 
companies consolidate until they become very formidable. The stock pays 
such high dividends that the figures startle people; then the capital stock is 
increased. In England and Germany the gas service is owned by the munic- 
palities, and the gas is of better quality and much cheaper than in this city. 
" When I was in command of Charlestown, S. C. , in 1865-67," General 
Sickles said, " it became my duty to take charge of the gas works, because 
the company had confiscated the stock of the loyal Northern owners and 
turned the proceeds into the Confederate Treasury. 1 appointed Edward 
M. Dickerson, of New York, Commissioner to have charge of the works. 
The quality of gas then furnished was poor aud the price high. Dickerson 
investigated the business and reported that the quality could be improved 
fifty per cent, and the price reduced. This was done, and though there 
was a great howl at the seizure of the works, the result was very pleasing to 
the people. I conducted the gas works some time through Mr. Dickerson, 
and then transferred them back to the company with the understanding 
that the quality of gas should be maintained and the price should not be 
raised. The result of my management showed a handsome profit in the 
business." 

General Sickles said that in his opinion $1.25 was too high a price for 
New York to pay for gas. The companies were not interested in preventing 
leakages. The price was so much above the cost that they were willing to 
have gas escape and charge the loss up to the consumers. The present State 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 503 

inspection of meters, he said, was a mere sham. He thought there should 
be a State Commission to supervise the companies, but it should be com- 
posed of men of attainments and rectitude, who would stand up and look 
the gas companies in the face and not swerve from duty. 

Adolphus A. Knudson, an electrical expert of Brooklyn, testified briefly 
concerning the safety of the trolley system of street-car propulsion. The 
electrical current used, he said, had never caused the death of a person, 
though many men had been shocked. 

D. Lowber Smith, ex-Commissioner of Public Works, testified that the 
Public Works Department had no control over the laying of gas mains. 
There was no supervisory power over the companies. Mr. Smith gave 
instances from his experience as Water Purveyor to show how badly the gas 
mains leaked. The pavements in some parts of the city could not be dis- 
turbed without a very strong smell of escaping gas. In some places, when 
a crow-bar was driven into the street and removed, gas would rush out that 
could be ignited and would burn with a bright blaze. In Madison Avenue, 
between Twenty-third and Thirty-Seventh Streets, which was paved with 
asphaltum a few years ago, he understood the residents were complaining a 
great deal of escaping gas in their cellars. The gas leaking from the mains 
could not get through the asphaltum pavements, so it spread out and fol- 
lowed the service pipes into the house. 

As to a remedy, Mr. Smith suggested that the city should furnish gas, 
just as it furnishes water. If that were not practicable, and Mr. Smith did 
not know whether it was or not, the Department of Public Works should 
have charge of laying the gas mains. He did not know but there should be 
a State commission to supervise, but it should operate through the local 
authorities. Mr. Smith estimated the leakage of gas at 15 per cent. 

Mr. Horace Loomis, engineer in charge of the sewers of the city and ex- 
Commissioner of Street Cleaning, testified that excavations could hardly be 
made in the lower part of the city without encountering escaping gas. The 
leakage, he thought, was mostly from the joints in the mains and the points 
where the service pipes entered the mains. Some authority should have 
power to prescribe the quality of gas pipe and the manner of laying it. 

Mr. George W. Birdsall, chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, in his 
testimony dwelt on the injury from the great number of pipes in the streets, 
many of which were in bad condition. The great trouble with the gas com- 
panies was that they left their pipes in the ground too long. The pipes 
become coated with rust, and the least disturbance to them would cause a 
leak. The only absolute remedy for the leakage of the mains was to put 
them all in a vault where they could be inspected every day and any leak be 
at once detected and stopped. 

Mr. Leonard T. Beckwith, chief engineer of the Electrical Subway 
Company, testified that much difficulty was experienced from escaping gas 
getting in the subways. It was necessary to expel the gas before men could 
enter the manholes, and ten stations had been established for pumping in 
air. Witness said that in some cases the gas mains were in such rotten con- 
dition that if a workman touched them with his boot he would knock a hole 
in them. 

Joseph Flannery, chief engineer of the Standard Gas Light Company, 
declared that this was a progressive age and that his company had just put 



504 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



down eighty-five miles of new wrought-iron gas mains, so protected as to 
make them more desirable than cast-iron mains. The joints were screwed 
together instead of being soldered with lead. The companies, he said, gave 
great attention to leakages, and tried to stop them. He was sure the 
average leakage could not be above i per cent. There would be great 
trouble if it were. No less than 10,000,000 cubic feet of gas per mile per 
annum was used in this city. The way to prevent gas from getting in the 
subways was to fill the cavities. Mr. Flannery favored a State commission. 

William Webb, Superintendent of Sewers in the Department of Public 
Works, told the committee that gas often escaped into the sewers, and in 
half a dozen cases explosions had occurred when men went into the sewers 
with lights. Some of the explosions were very severe and destructive. The 
gas came from the pipes. He had seen a service pipe in such a condition that 
he could crush it with his hand. The earth is not everywhere filled with gas, 
only where there were leaks. The laying of mains should be under some 
supervision. Mr. Webb favored taking steam-heating pipes out of the 
streets entirely. 

John B. Strong of Brooklyn produced a triune polar instrument which 
anmsed the committee for a time. Then adjournment was taken to next 
Saturday morning at 10 o'clock. The investigation will then be closed. — 
N. Y. Times. 



THE GAS PIPES ARE ROTTEN. 

Was this the Cause of the Explosion at Twenty-Third Street? 
Subway Commissioners say that Millions of Feet of Gas 
Escape into the Ground, Creating an Ever-Present Source 
of Danger.— The Mayor Calls for A Conference with Gas 
Companies. 

The narrow escape from death of many people in the upheaval of the 
street near Fifth Avenue Hotel, Tuesday, awakened a very general desire to 
know the exact cause of the explosion. A more populous and fashionable 
corner than Fifth Avenue and Twenty-third Street could not be found, and 
the fact that nobody was killed in Tuesday's upheaval was not entirely re- 
assuring for the future. Of course, it has been known in a general way 
that the explosion resulted from an accumulation of illuminating gas in the 
new electrical subway, but where it came from or how it got there remains 
a puzzle. 

The Board of Electrical Control took steps to investigate the trouble by 
requesting the several gas companies to examine their mains in that vicinity 
for the purpose of discovering all possible leaks. Since then the corner of 
Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street has been the point of operations for a 
great number of human moles employed by the gas companies to burrow 
under the ground along the gas mains. There was nothing to show that the 
gas had not entered the subway miles from the scene of the explosion, but 
for several days prior to that event a strong smell of gas had filled the base- 
ment of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The suspicion that a big leak would be 
discovered close by proved correct, and, according to Electrical Subway 
Commissioner Gibbens, the exact cause of the explosion was ascertained. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 505 



The junction of the Standard Gas Company's main down Broadway 
with the crosstown main in Twenty-Third Street, instead of being made 
with a closely jointed elbow, is made at right angles, the protruding end of 
the crosstown main being stopped with a wooden plug. It was here, accord- 
ing to Commissioner Gibbens, that the enormous escape of gas occurred, and 
the Standard Company admits the discovery of such a leak. Another leak, 
though less serious, was discovered by the Equitable Gaslight Company 
near by. These leaks have been repaired, but the possibility of similar ex- 
plosions in other parts of the city still remains. 

Commissioners Hess and Gibbens differ materially in their views. It 
seems to be Mr. Hess's idea that instead of endeavoring to make the subway 
manholes gas-tight they should be left conveniently open for the reception 
of gas, which might be carried away by the construction of powerful blowers. 

" I always supposed," said Commissioner Gibbens, " if a man amused 
himself by keeping a wild animal, that it was his duty to see that the beast 
should not harm his neighbors ; not that they were obliged to furnish 
pasturage for it. The gas companies, through negligence, are maintaining 
a wild animal below the surface of the streets. They ought to be made to 
chain it up, for it is liable to break out at any time. We will try to make 
the subway gas-tight, but how will that prevent explosions ? They will take 
place in cellars, basements, and wherever gas enters. It would be absurd 
to blame a house-owner for damage done in his house by burglars, but you 
might as well expect men to build burglar-proof residences as to expect 
them to construct their basements so that gas, which is flooding the earth all 
over New York, cannot enter. It is a matter for the gas companies alone to 
remedy. A commission ought to be appointed to see that they lay their 
pipes in a proper manner and keep them in repair." 

" I am not so much surprised that an explosion occurred in the streets," 
said Henry S. Kearny, Engineer of the Board of Electrical Control, "as I 
am that more have not occurred, for the gas-pipes under the streets are in a 
deplorable condition. It is claimed that ordinary gas will not explode 
spontaneously, and as no fire could have been introduced directly into the 
manholes, the fire must have originated elsewhere, and followed a leak to a 
point where enough gas had accumulated to cause an explosion. As to the 
gas-pipes, as found while building underground conduits, many of the 
mains were so rotten that they could not be moved. Some of the iron pipe 
in which gas is conveyed was laid thirty years ago, and it has so rusted and 
decayed that it crumbles to pieces when exposed to the air. I am informed 
that one-third of the gas manufactured is accounted for by the companies 
on the ground of leakage — that millions of cubic feet are absorbed by the 
earth daily, and any person who has been in a newly dug trench can realize 
the possibility of this being true. This leaking gas penetrates the sewers, 
basements, and, in a good many instances, the upper floors of buildings, 
and we are breathing poisoned air continually. Unless radical steps are 
taken the evil will grow more rapidly as the pipes decay. We will, how- 
ever, doubtless be able to devise a plan to prevent subway explosions." 

Mayor Grant has called a meeting of the Board of Electrical Control 
for noon Monday, and has invited the presidents and engineers of the 
several gas companies to be present to discuss the means of preventing the 
accumulation of gas in subways. — New York World, March 29, 1889. 



506 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



THOSE DANGEROUS SUBWAYS. 
The Electric Board Seeks a Way to Prevent Explosions. 

Mayor Grant is anxious to find some means whereby further explosions 
of gas in the subways may be averted, and to that end he called a special 
meeting of the Board of Electrical Control in his office yesterday. All the 
representatives of the leading gas and electric lighting companies wer e 
invited, and among those who attended were President John P. Kennedy, 
of the Mutual Gas Company ; General F. B. Spinola, of the Standard ; 
Vice-President Zolikoffer, of the Consolidated ; Edward Lauterbach, of the 
Consolidated Telegraph and Electrical Subway Construction Company, 
and about fifty other gentlemen interested in illuminating matters. The 
full Board of Electrical Control was on hand, and D. Lowber Smith, Com- 
missioner of Public Works, occupied a seat on the right hand side of the 
Mayor. 

President Lauterbach, of the Subway Company, was the first speaker. 
He reviewed the causes that led to the explosions, and said that illuminating 
gas had frequently exploded in sewer manholes long before the trouble 
showed itself in the subways. It was noticeable that the explosion at Broad- 
way and Twenty-third Street took place while there was no electrical current 
or spark in the subway. It was impossible to prevent the permeation of 
gas into vacuums. When his company built its subways the gas mains were 
taken down and repaired whenever it was found necessary. Mr. Lauterbach 
then read a long report on the subject of explosions, which was prepared by 
Engineer L. F. Beekwith of the Subway Company. The report, dated 
February 25, 1889, on the subject of ventilation in the subways, set forth that 
it was impossible to make a construction that would prevent infiltration. 
When the proportion of gas present is twelve per cent, then the danger is 
greatest. The oldest parts of the city where the mains were buried longest 
was where the most danger lies. A tap of a pick or a crowbar, or even the 
stamp of a boot heel, was in some cases sufficient to crush the pipe. In these 
oldest parts of the city twenty per cent, of the gas was estimated to be lost 
by leakage. The Standard Gas Company, which was doing the best it could, 
by the introduction of wrought-iron pipe, suffered least from leakage, 
although a ten-inch main of that company, in an uptown street, had a plug 
loosened some time ago and created a considerable leak. 

The Mayor's Queries. 

Mayor Grant interrupted Mr. Lauterbach to ask him what he meant by 
saying that the Standard Company was doing its best, and still had a loose 
plug on a ten-inch main. 

" I meant it had the best appliances," answered Mr. Lauterbach. 

"Then you think the old companies are the worst?" persisted the 
mayor. 

" Yes, sir," answered Mr. Lauterbach. " This last explosion came from 
carelessness." 

The president of the subway company then read from the supplementary 
report of Mr. Beekwith touching the recent explosions. The theory 
advanced as to the accident in front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel was that the 
infiltrating gas made its way from the subway through a duct leading to the 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 507 

basement of the Novelty Company's store in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The 
strong odor of gas which permeated the hotel led the porters to make a 
search for the leak They found gas coming from the basement of the 
Novelty Company. On a workbench in the basement there was a gas jet for 
heating a glue pot. In lighting the jet it is thought the escaping gas in the 
duct already mentioned was ignited and the flame rapidly communicated 
itself through the duct and into the manholes, where the accumulated gas 
exploded. 

The remedy for the gas in manholes and elsewhere lay in the use of 
blowers. These had been used in various instances and had been found 
effective. 

Mr. Lauterbach also said that much trouble was caused in the lower 
part of the city by the mains of the steam heating company. In some 
instances the temperature in the manholes was 200 degrees. Unless the 
cables were covered with lead casings they were useless. 

Mr. Kennedy's Views. 

President John P. Kennedy, of the Mutual Company, objected to the 
statements contained in the report read by Mr. Lauterbach. Mr. Kennedy 
denied that the gas pipes were laid carelessly, that they were of poor 
material and rotten in many cases. These pipes when cast are submitted to 
a pressure of 300 pounds to the square inch. It was impossible to prevent 
leakage of cast-iron pipes. The estimated loss from leaks was five per cent. 
Mr. Kennedy thought that ventilation of the manholes was the only remedy. 

Mayor Grant : If the leaks in the manholes are dangerous why should 
not cellars and vaults be also dangerous? 

Mr. Kennedy : Because escaping gas ascends perpendicularly and does 
not permeate laterally. 

At this point Mr. Kennedy's declaration was jumped on by Commis- 
sioner Smith, Engineer Beckwith and Engineer Kearney, of the Board of 
Electrical Control, who agreed the gas was not so modest that it could not 
get anywhere — into sewers, cellars, vaults and other places. 

Mr. Kennedy suggested that the manholes be ventilated by two pipes — 
one to convey the fresh air from a point just behind the curb-stone and 
another pipe to convey the gas back to the curbstone. The pure air, which 
was heavier, would drive the gas out. 

Engineer Beckwith objected to this on account of its danger, and said 
that a man throwing away a lighted cigar might ignite the escaping gas and 
blow up the manhole. 

Mr. E. J. Enfers, Superintendent of the Equitable Gas Eight Company, 
said the leakage had increased since the subways had been built. This was 
due to improperly filling in the ground under the gas mains. 

The hearing will be resumed at one o'clock to-day. — New York Herald, 
April 2d, 1889. 



508 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



PERIL FROM TEAKY MAINS. 

Why the; Subways Blow Up Now and Then. — It is Gas Which Ex- 
plodes, but How it Ignites is a Mystery. — Teaks Cheaper 
than Repairs. 

There is reason to believe that the gas leak at Fifth Avenue and 
Twenty-third Street, which was the indirect cause of the three electrical 
subway manhole explosions on Monday noon, is one of the many in the 
city due to faulty construction or defects in the mains. Apart from the dan- 
ger of subterranean accumulations of illumiuating gas, the subject is of 
public interest because the gas consumers have to pay for the gas that is 
wasted as well as for the gas that is used. 

This will not be admitted by the old gas company men, who argue very 
ingeniously that it is for their interest to minimize the leakage. In spite of 
their best efforts, however, they admit that fully one-third of the total out- 
put is lost by leakage. They claim that they can stand this loss better than 
the greater expense of searching for leaks and repairing them. One of the 
new companies has manifested a better regard for the public by an import- 
ant improvement in its mains. The old companies use cast-iron pipe and 
make plug and solder joints, while the new company has adopted wrought- 
iron pipe with screw joints. The improved method is more expensive than 
the old style of construction, but the difference, it is said, is more than 
made up by the saving in gas. Even this company's pipes are not perfect, 
and the screw joints are affected by heat and cold. 

During the last two years there were about a dozen mysterious explo- 
sions of gas in the manholes of the Subway Construction Company. There 
have been several since January r. All were similar in their general feat- 
ures, and, in all, nobody seemed able to tell how the gas was ignited. These 
underground reservoirs seem to ignite without the slightest provocation. 
They are supposed to be built air-tight and water-tight for protection to the 
electrical conductors, but they explode before the wires are charged. It 
would seem to be an impossibility to ignite the gas from the street. 

One of the first eruptions of the year was at Pine and Nassau Streets, 
about noon on January 20. The heavy lid and cap of the subway manhole 
were blown off, and the thick asphalt pavement for a space of 10 feet square 
was torn up. The smooth roadway is used by foot passengers about as much 
as the sidewalk at this point, and several persons walked over the dangerous 
spot only a minute before the eruption. The manhole was the end of the 
Nassau Street extension built last summer, and the subway was unused and 
empty, except for an accumulation of sewer gas and illuminating gas — a 
mixture which, according to some wise men of Gotham, will produce spon- 
taneous combustion. The report in the Times of the accident contained 
this significant sentence : 

' ' There was a strong odor of illuminating gas for many minutes after 
the explosion, but Superintendent Riley of the Consolidated Gas Company 
said no leak could be found in the pipes." 

On February 11 there was an explosion in the electrical subway in front 
of 142 Pearl Street. The pavement was torn up for a radius of 12 feet. 
Belgian blocks were hurled in the air and fell back harmless, because, 
fortunately, no person was passing the spot. There is a manhole at that 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 509 

point and a gas pipe crosses it. In the record of that event appears this 
statement : 

" A strong odor of gas was noticed several hours after the explosion. 
* * * No leak was discovered. ' ' 

When the attention of Editor Stone of the Journal of Commerce was 
called to the accident, he wrote an article for his paper showing that a leak 
in the Pearl Street gas main had existed for 40 years to his personal know- 
ledge. In that long period he had made repeated complaints about it to 
those concerned, and had received many promises that the leak would be 
hunted up and mended. The pipe belonged to the New York Gas Light 
Company, which was absorbed by the Consolidated. 

Here was strong evidence that one company at least had neglected an 
apparent duty, probably because of the heavy expense involved in the work. 
In contrast, the same company, within a week of the Pearl Street explosion, 
displayed extraordinary activity when a leak was reported in the East 
Seventy-Fifth Street main. The gas sought and found an outlet in this 
case along the service pipe of a flat house in which 37 occupants were sleep- 
ing, unconscious of danger. Nearly all the inmates were affected, and the 
two women were removed to the hospital for treatment. An entire family 
in the basement escaped suffocation by the distressed cries of a pet cat. 
This was a case where the gas company was forced to repair the leak 
promptly. 

There are 1,180 miles of gas mains in this city, of which 1,080 miles are 
planted in the soil of Manhattan Island. This is the result of many years' 
work, and, up to date, the companies are not bound by any restrictions as to 
material used or the method of laying the pipes or making the joints. After 
a company gets a charter or franchise and a permit to open the streets from 
the chief engineer, it is free to act. As a matter of fact, engineers hold that 
the entire underground system of pipes should be consolidated in a subway 
s} 7 stem, accessible at frequent points and properly ventilated. 

It is the opinion of street contractors that many of the old gas mains in 
this city are rust-eaten to the point of uselessness. When John D. Crim- 
mins was working a gang of men on the electrical subways in Sixth avenue, 
about every foot of soil overturned yielded offensive odors of gas. It escaped 
from defective joints and worn cast-iron pipes, and had saturated every inch 
of earth. Mains were exposed which had evidently been buried over a quar- 
ter of a century, and accidental blows by the pick and shovel gang broke the 
iron like pie-crust. Many sections of the old mains broken in this way had 
to be replaced at the contractor's expense, 

It is the opinion of the Superintendent of Lamps and Gas in the De- 
partment of Public Works, that the companies are not so much to blame for 
leaks in their mains as those who make subsequent street improvements on 
the same territoiy. The gas mains are owned as follows: Consolidated, 
754 miles : New York Mutual, 122 miles ; Equitable, 172 miles ; Standard, 
91 miles ; Central, 53 miles ; Northern, 33 miles ; Yonkers, 13 miles. The 
giant interest is the Consolidated, with half a dozen branches, capital 
amounting to $39,070,000, and a capacity of 28,000,000 cubic feet per day. 
It embraces the old plants of the New York, Manhattan, Municipal, Metro- 
politan, Knickerbocker and Harlem companies. Its pipes cover practically 
the whole island. The New York Mutual has mains in various streets, or 



510 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



parts of streets, between Battery Place and Sixty fifth street, and a capacity 
of 4,000,000 cubic feet per day. The daily capacity of the Equitable is 6,000, 
000 cubic feet, which is distributed between Division and Seventy-fourth 
streets. 

The Standard Company obtained its franchise to lay mains, not from the 
Board of Aldermen, as is usual, but direct from the State Legislature. It 
now has wrought-iron mains in various streets between Fourteenth street and 
One Hundred and Thirty-fifth street and between Avenue C and Eighth ave- 
nue. 

The Yonkers Company was compelled to dig for a leak not long ago by 
reason of a disastrous gas explosion in the largest dry goods store in the 
place. It was found that the main was broken near the service connection 
and the gas had followed the pipe line into the cellar. 

The Board of Electrical Control is deeply concerned about the flow of 
gas into the subways, and will probably take some official action at an early 
date. Expert Wheeler said yesterday when asked if he knew what exploded 
the street mines : 

" That is the question. I would give a thousand dollars to know that. 
It is the deepest problem I ever encountered. All the electricians are puz- 
zled. The responsibility for these explosions undoubtedly rests on the gas 
companies. Until we put a blower in operation on the Broadway subway 
line, it was impossible to enter a manhole until it had been pumped out by 
hand. The gas was so heavy that it fairly clung to the bottom and sides of 
the pit. The blower is operated at the Hotel Marlborough, and after it is 
used the air in the subway becomes so sweet that the men can work without 
any difficulty. This blower was an experiment with us, and it has been such 
a success that three more have been ordered. 

" It is doubtful if there would have been an explosion at Fifth Avenue 
and Twenty-third Street Monday, but for the circumstance that the clean- 
ing gang opened the manhole in front of the Fifth Avenue Hotel a few 
hours before the explosion below that point, and thus made an outlet for 
the fresh air pumped into the subway. The gases which accumulated south 
of that point were not disturbed in consequence, and when the mine went 
off the concussion extended to the hole that had been cleaned. The con- 
cussion also drove the smoke through the pipe connecting the subways with 
the store of the American Specialty Company, in the hotel building. Em- 
ployes in the hotel detected an odor of gas in the basement the day before 
the explosion, but the leak could not be discovered." — New York Times, 
April 7 th, 1889. 

STANDARD GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

It will be interesting, at this point, to reproduce copy of 
the original telegram which we have in our possession, from the 
Treasurer of the Standard Gas Light Company, which is one of 
the very largest gas companies in this country : 

New York, February 25th, 1890. 
Emerson McMillan, President Laclede Gas Company, St. Louis, Mo. 

We find wrought-iron gas mains practically stop all leakage. Only 
leaks we have are on cast-iron crosses and sleeves. Leakage in cast-iron 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 511 



lines in this city averages fourteen per cent. Ours does not exceed one per 
cent. 

(Signed) O. P. Shaffer, 

Treasurer Standard Gas Light Company. 



Circular-Letter No. 591, ) 
New York, April 22, 1890. j 
To Branch House Managers. 

This is now getting to be a pretty serious matter for New York City ; it 
has been brought to the attention of the State Senate and a committee 
appointed, and this committee has begun to stir things up in quite a lively 
manner. On Monday of this week a seance was held at the Hotel Metro-, 
pole, and testimony taken from engineering experts. A report appeared in 
Monday evening's Commercial Advertiser, which report 1 attach hereto and 
make a part of this letter, having eliminated the extraneous portions of the 
article, such as suggestions, etc., as to the best means of securing a Sena- 
torial Commission to control all gas mains in the streets of New York, etc. , 
for the sake of brevity : 

ESCAPING GAS. 
Dangerous Leaks from Improperly Constructed Mains. — Subway 

Engineer Kearney Testifies before the Senate Committee 

to the Rotten Condition of the City's Gas Conduits.— In 

Sixth Avenue they Fell to Pieces when Disturbed. 

Senator George Zerubbabel Erwin presided to-day at the continuation 
of the investigation into the operations underground of electric, gas and 
subway companies in this city by the Senate Committee on General Laws. 

Henry S. Kearney, Engineer of the Board of Electrical Control, was the 
first witness to-day, being recalled. He had, he testified, been engaged for 
about four years in superintending the construction of the electric subways. 
He had thus had opportunity to observe the condition of the system of gas 
pipes supplying the city. Asked by Chairman Erwin as to the number of 
gas pipes in general throughout the city, the witness said that the various 
gas companies had gridironed the city with gas pipes. Each company, as 
organized, had established a new plant. The result was that in many 
districts the same street or avenue contained several parallel lines of gas 
mains. Thus, on Sixth Avenue, for instance, from Fourteenth Street north, 
there were four lines of gas mains on each side of the street. On all the 
avenues from Third to Eighth Avenue there were at least two or three lines 
of mains varying from four to twenty inches in diameter. Few streets, also, 
from Fourteenth to Fiftieth Street, had less than two lines of main. The 
pipe ordinarily in use was a poor quality of cast-iron. These became cor- 
roded in the course of a few years, and in many cases after the length of 
time most of the present pipes had been in the ground — ten, twenty and 
thirty years — they were rusted through, so that when lifted they fell to 
pieces from their own weight. The average life of these cast-iron gas mains 
in the soil of the city was about twenty years. The subway company, in 
the course of the construction of its system, had been obliged to re-lay a 
great deal of gas pipe which their excavations had disturbed, and whose 
condition was so bad as to be easily injured in the process of excavation. 

In the witness's opinion 90 per cent, of the territory of the city in 



512 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



which the streets had been opened by the subway company showed evi- 
dence of leakage. Almost all the pipes exposed leaked more or less. The 
effect of this leakage was that the escaping gas penetrated through the soil 
and got into the subways. It was the exception below Forty-second Street 
to dig a hole and not find the evidence of escaping gas. In the case of the 
older class of pipes, which had been laid twenty years, the pipes were badly 
corroded, and in some cases entirely rusted out. 

An additional danger existed from the leakage of gas into the sewers, 
where, in such case, explosions were likely to occur, either by ignition or 
by a mysterious combustion. 

Mr. Kearney thought that some supervising local power was sorely 
wanted to have control of the cast-iron gas mains. 

(Signed) F. C. CONVERSE, General Manager. 

by J. W. Downer, Jr. 

ClRCULAR-LETTER NO. 6oi. ) 

New York, June 13, 1890. j 
To Branch House Managers. 

The following newspaper clipping gives a very true pen-picture of what 
actually happened on Broadway, at the corner of Fulton Street, yesterday 
morning, and is an interesting sequel to that part of circular-letter No. 591, 
reporting the Senatorial investigation of the condition of New York's 
cast-iron gas mains. 

Having seen the volume of flame issuing from the hole in the street, 
Ave can vouch for the general accuracy of the paper report. The only won- 
der in the minds of those who are familiar with the condition of the various 
cast-iron gas mains in this city and the quantity of gas that gets into the 
streets below the surface of the earth by exosmose, is that such accidents as 
here reported are not of more frequent occurrence. 

The Standard Gas Light Company, the only gas company having a 
wrought-iron distributing system in the streets of New York, never has had 
any trouble of this kind ; the street mains of the two companies respon- 
sible for this accident, to wit, the Consolidated and the Mutual, are cast- 
iron throughout. 

(Signed) F. C. Converse, General Manager. 

by J. W. Downer, Jr. 

DROP A MATCH AND SFE US GO UP. 

New York on a Big Torpedo, Fed by the Gas Companies Through 
Leaky Pipes, and Ready to Blaze Away at a Moment's Notice 
—Bang ! Bang ! And Away Goes Broadway's Pave. — Two Man- 
holes in Front oe the Herald Office Shoot Cobblestones 
into the Air, and a Pillar of Fire Rises up as a Warning. — A 
Man from the Steam Heating Company Touched it off by 
Falling Over a Lantern.— They make a Long Job of Plugging 
the Pipe.— Meanwhile a Flood of Humanity is Turned Aside 
and Impeded and in Every Way Discommoded, while Odors of 
an Abominable Nature Fill the Air. — Fixing the Responsi- 
bility Amid Conflicting Stories. 
New York City rests upon a volcano. It is not extinct, but though not 

incessantly in action, its eruptions are of sufficient frequency and power to 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 513 

warn the people of the wrath to come. Of this there is no possible probable 
shadow of doubt. 

This volcanic force is none of nature's making, but is fed, through the 
negligence of the municipal authorities, by three grasping corporations. 

To some people this statement might seem to be a trifle extravagant, 
but not to those who had occasion to visit lower Broadway yesterday and 
watch the young Vesuvius shoot its rockets from its hiding place beneath 
the busiest thoroughfare in the country, while every now and then a rumb- 
ling noise that awakened recollections of a mild mannered earthquake came 
up from the ground. 

A gang of men employed by the New York Steam Heating Company 
were busily engaged in filling in a trench running across Broadway at Fulton 
Street at three o'clock yesterday morning. The men had been engaged in 
repairing the pipes for about a week and had about completed their work. 
It was a most disagreeable task, as the soil was impregnated with gas and 
the atmosphere redolent with noxious odors. 

" Our Pipes Leak? never." 

Where the gas came from could not be definitely ascertained, as the 
large mains of both the Consolidated and Mutual Gas Companies occupy 
this part of Broadway, and each company has also maintained that the 
poisonous odors that freighted the atmosphere were due to leaks in the 
other company's pipes. 

The pipes of the Mutual Gas Company were hermetically sealed. 

The pipes of the Consolidated were sealed hermetically. 

At least that is what both of these model companies would have the 
public believe. 

The truth of the matter is that the pipes of both of these giant corpora- 
tions were in a shockingly bad condition, as a person with half an eye and 
scarcely any nose at all could discover yesterday. 

The accidental fall of a workman and the breaking of his lantern brought 
matters to a climax. The gaseous matter in the soil ignited immediately. 
The flames, at first a sickly pale green, glided over the soil in the trench 
with the same steady movement that oil assumes w T hen poured upon water. 
It seemed to be looking for an outlet. 

Its movement was as fantastic as the steps of a new polka, and was in 
the direction of the manhole of the subway through which the two gas mains 
of the above named companies run. The manhole is located on the north- 
east corner of Broadway and Fulton Street, and is connected with the man- 
hole on the opposite side of the street. 

A Flame that Wouldn't Go Out. 

The steady movement of the flame for a second seemed to paralyze the 
laborers, and they rushed from their work as if pursued by a legion of 
demons. A minute later they returned and began to dump bucket after 
bucket of water into the trench, accompanied by shovels of dirt, hoping to 
both drown and smother the miniature conflagration. 

The work was futile. 

The great flame was a veritable will-o'-the-wisp. Cover it in one place 
and it bobbed up in another, and always with increasing force. Gradually 



514 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the sickly green that gave character to the flame lost itself in a bright red. 
At the same moment it appeared to have found its way into the subway and 
ran like a streak of lightning through the passage connecting the manholes. 

The manhole on the northwest corner of the street was loaded to the 
muzzle and was just in that ripe condition when a good line of fire would be 
given a regular old time Fourth of July reception. There was no mistaking 
the character of the patriotism of the fluid that was secreted in this partic- 
ular subway. It went off with a bang and a sizzle that discounted the report 
of a cannon. 

At the same instant the cobblestones surrounding the top of the man- 
hole were shot into the air a distance of ten feet, and the curbstone skirting 
a part of the sidewalk in front of St. Paul's Church was pulled up and hurled 
one side as easily as a feather is lifted from the ground by a gust of wind. 
The manhole itself was choked with the ruins. 

Not Easily Overlooked. 
If this particular subway explosion was like any of the others that have 
heretofore startled newspapers it would have ended here, and would have 
gone into history as another case of narrow escape. Subway Commissioner 
Jake Hess would blandly have come to the front and explained that the 
affair was a trifling one, his side partner, Mr. Moss, would say ditto, Mayor 

write a n indig- 
a n d the affair 
ten. The pale 
ever, had other 
Returning 
inal passage t o 
the northeast cor- 
it started a flame 
tious size. It 
around in the 
hole until it ap- 
nothing but a ball 
course was now 
downward, and 
despite all the 
do, seemed to add 
Tittle by little the south side of the wall 




Grant would 
nant letter or two 
would be forgot- 
green flame, how- 
business on hand, 
through the orig- 
the subway o n 
ner of the street 
of more preten- 
rolled and rolled 
brick-lined man- 
peared to be 
of red fire. Its 
upward, now 
each revolution, 
workmen could 
more zest to its satanic fury 
seemed to expand and then contract. Bach movement was accompanied by 
a noise that sounded like the creaking timbers of a vessel on the rocks. 

The heat that rose from the pavement around the manhole was intense, 
and the men who had been watching the progress of the fire now became 
thoroughly frightened and fell back. It was well for them that they did, for 
at that moment the flame burst from its prison, scattering fragments of ma- 
sonry in all directions. 

A Pillar of Fire. 

This explosion was louder even than the other, shaking several of the 
adjacent buildings. A bright red flame shot straight into the air rising a dis- 
tance of fully thirty feet. There could be no doubt as to where this fire re- 
ceived its fuel. The sixteen-inch main of the Consolidated Company had 



Burning Gas Main on Broadway. 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 515 



given away and the gas for which the company tax the people of New York 
at the rate of $1.25 per 1,000 feet was being consumed in an extravagant 
manner. It is estimated by experts that during the first hour of the fire 
1,500,000 feet of gas was consumed. 

The smaller main of the Mutual Gas Company subsequently burst and 
added a new vigor to the now very picturesque flame. At about this time it 
began to rain quite heavily, but no amount of water seemed to have any ef- 
fect upon the curling fire. 

This continued all day, the flame gradually diminishing in size. It was 
not, however, until a quarter of nine o'clock in the evening that the fire en- 
tirely died away and gave the small army of men, who had been making a 
scientific fight for many hours, a chance to survey their work and contem- 
plate the damage done. 

Instructive at Least. 

It was not an unprofitable study. 

As soon as it became apparent that the fire in the manhole had come to 
stay, Police Captain Carpenter took a squad of thirty men and posted them 
along Broadway between Fulton street and the Hera Id office. It was a wise 
precaution. 

Tower Broadway from early in the morning until dusk always presents 
a scene of moving humanity. From 6 to 7 o'clock working men are hurry- 
ing to their work in the factories in the lower part of the town. The sight of 
a stream of fire pouring out of the pavement caused many of them to halt 
and ask questions, 

From 7 to 8 o'clock the thousands of business and professional men, 
with the small army of clerks that are employed in work down town, pressed 
the guard line of the police pretty hard. 

Blockades. 

In the meantime the great tide of traffic was turned in West Broadway on 
the west and Nassau street on the east. The Broadway cars were not permitted 
to pass and by ten o'clock the street between Fulton street and the Herald 
office was tolerably clear of people and the numerous gangs of workingmen 
who had been called into service by Commissioner Gilroy and the two gas 
companies, were given an ample opportunity to put in some good work, and 
it is fair to say that, acting under the instructions they received, the men 
did all that could be expected of them. 

The swinging of the immense traffic that ordinarily passes up and down 
Broadway into the two adjoining thoroughfares had the effect of creating a 
blockade on both streets and causing an immense amount of swearing 
among the drivers of the various trucks that were hemmed in like so many 
sardines in a box. 

The method employed in checking the fire in the subway was decidedly 
slow. To turn off the gas at the central office of either company would take 
about a minute. But then the water that would be necessary to finish the 
flames would be disastrous to the cheap cast-iron pipes used by both of the 
companies. 

In almost any other city in the country stop cocks are put on the gas 
mains at short intervals, and it requires no effort to shut the gas off at 



516 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



almost any point. The New York gas companies, judging from yesterday's 
experience, are not up in modern improvement. 

Holes in the Ground. 

They had a way of their own of getting at the fire. True, it is a some- 
what ancient custom, but it has one advantage — it is delightfully cheap. 
The men set about digging for a suitable place to stick a plug. The idea of 
this was to cut off the flow of gas into the mains upon all pipes leading into 
the burning subway. The men went to work with a will, and before night- 
fall there were a dozen excavations made, extending from the Herald office 
around the corner of Fulton Street. 

In each of these excavations the pipe was tapped and a rubber bag in- 
serted into the main. The bag was then inflated, either by means of an air 
pump or by the pouring in of water, and thus the flow of gas was shut off. 
But the gas already in the big mains, between the places where the plug 
was inserted and the scene of the fire, seemed to take its own time about 
burning. 

This was not, however, the worst thing that could happen, as it gave 
those who cared to investigate the matter an opportunity to listen to stories 
covering every phase of the case, and from all the parties concerned. The 
conflicting stories told by the heads of the various companies, all in some 
measure responsible for the accident, were amusing, if not creditable, to the 
people engaged in the controversy. 

I heard a mass of conflicting testimony and made an investigation of 
my own, and my conclusion is in accordance with the report received by 
Public Works Commissioner Thomas F. Gilroy from his engineer, General 
Roy Stone. 

This is Why. 

The pipes of both the gas companies are made of cast-iron. 

The gas that accumulated with such effect in the subway was caused by 
the excessive leakage in the two big cast-iron gas-pipes. 

Superintendent F. H. Prentiss, of the steam heating company, said 
that he was not aware that the fire was ignited by one of his own men fall- 
ing and breaking a lantern. The reason why Mr. Prentiss did not know 
this fact is that the man, whose name is Morris Starsbrum, was so severely 
burned about the face and neck that he had to be taken to the Chambers 
Street Hospital. Mr. Prentiss thought the fire might have been occasioned 
by a spark of electricity, or it might have been ignited by the stump of a 
cigar, as the pipes of the company were rotten, and very leaky. Mr. 
Prentiss said the gas mains were a menace to the subway, and all other 
pipes laid in the vicinity. 

Looked at Another Way. 

W. H. Bradley, Superintendent of the Consolidated Gas Company, said 
the explosion was due to the steam heating company. He admitted that 
the gas mains leaked, but said that gas-pipes always leaked somewhat, but 
were not dangerous unless ignited. Mr. Bradley insisted that the pipes 
were in good condition. 

Subway Commissioner Ridgway said that the subway company could 
not be held responsible for the explosion. If gas pipes were going to leak and 
steam heating men were tumbling around with lighted lanterns something 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST-IRON GAS MAINS. 517 



serious of course would happen. Mr. Ridgway said there was no doubt 
about the gas leaking, as Superintendent Reed of the Standard Underground 
Cable Compan}-, was present at the time of the accident and saw the steam 
heating company's man fall. 

Commissioner Gilroy says he is satisfied that the blame lies with one of 
the two gas companies or the steam heating company, but before he takes 
any official action he will await the report from his engineer. Mayor Grant 
and Subway Engineer Kearney visited the scene of the explosion and made 
a superficial examination. The mayor said he did not care to say anything 
about the matter until he had received full reports from the city engineers. 

How much of the cable running through the subway was destroyed could 
not be ascertained yesterday, as there was no way of learning how far the 
fire extended underground. The cables running through Broadway are 
owned by the United States Illuminating Company and the Mount Morris 
Company and make two circuits. They are valued at $75,000, but it is not 
probable that they were damaged to any very great extent. 



GAS SHATTERS THE NEW MAIN, 
An Upheaval in Columbus Avenue that Wrecked $1,500 worth oe 

Window Panes. — Very Expensive " Blowout." — Fragments of 

the Iron Pipe Titter the " L " Road and Cause Havoc. — Four 

Laborers Overcome. 

A twenty-inch gas main in Columbus Avenue, between Ninety-fourth 
and Ninety- fifth streets exploded at a quarter past six o'clock last evening, 
and the flying fragments smashed nearly every pane of glass in the buildings 
on the west side of the b!ock and several across the street, littered the " L" 
tracks, and narrowly missed several pedestrians. 

No one was seriously hurt, but one man was cut by flying glass, and 
four laborers were overcome by the gas in trying to shut it off after the 
explosion. 

A section of the heavy iron pipe, ten feet long, was shattered to frag- 
ments and the pieces sent flying through the windows opposite and into the 
stores and apartments. Spectators say the sound of the explosion was 
similar to a heavy blast, and that a heavy sheet of flame arose several feet. 
The rumble was heard as far up town as the Harlem River. — New York 
Herald, Saturday, May 25, iSgs. 



NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. 

ALL CAUSED BY ESCAPING GAS. 

Illness, an Explosion and an Arrest Result from a Leak. 

Albert Koenig, an ex-policeman, living at No. 545 Fifteenth Avenue, 

Newark, was annoyed, about a week ago, by the odor of gas in and around 

his house, which grew gradually worse. He found that his neighbors, 

George Jacobs, Thomas Monahan, Mrs. Stahlin and H. Miller, living at Nos. 

450 and 452, and in the rear of 450 Fifteenth Avenue, were troubled by the 

same odor, which was all the time becoming more unbearable. Members of 

each family became ill. 



518 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 




Explosion of the Columbus Avenue Gas Main. (Page 517.) 



While explorations were being made in the cellar of George Jacobs' 
saloon, with a lighted candle, there was an explosion, but no damage was 
done. A break in the main in Fifteenth Avenue was finally discovered, and 
it was found that the gas had escaped through a hole about six inches square 
and made its way through the earth into cellars of the houses. Mrs. Miller 
was ill from typhoid fever, and has been made so much worse by the gas 
that she is not expected to live. 

While tearing up the sidewalk in front of his house to locate the trouble 
Jacobs got into an altercation with a gas inspector, and last night had to give 
bail on a charge of assault and battery. — New York Herald, January 16, 18%. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 519 



GAS LEAKAGE. 

In addition to the facts which we have hereinbefore recorded 
in relation to the tightness and security of Converse Lock Joint 
Pipe, we will now present a part of the voluminous data which 
we have in our possession, showing the great losses gas compa- 
nies having cast-iron pipe systems throughout, are continually 
sustaining. 

The item of leakage is one of such vital importance to gas 
companies that from our investigation of the subject we should 
think that cast-iron pipe would be expensive material for mains 
if it was furnished for nothing, providing that a class of pipe 
could be procured at a reasonable price, which would reduce 
the item of leakage to an insignificant amount. 

We submit the names of some cities containing gas works, 
all of which are supplied with cast-iron mains and have an aver- 
age leakage of over ten per cent. This seems incredible, but we 
have the written authority for the appended list in each and every 
instance. This information should, of course, be treated as con- 
fidential: 

Location. 

Adrian Mich 

Albany N. Y 

Albion N. Y 

Allentowu Pa 

Amsterdam N. Y 

Annapolis Md 

Athens O 

Auburn N. Y 

Augusta Me 

Aurora Ind 

Barnesville O 

Barrie Can 

Bay City Mich 

Bellaire O 

Bordentown N. J 

Bridgeport Conn 

Bristol R. I 

Brockton Mass .... 

Brownsville Pa 

Cairo Ill 



Class of 
Mains. 


Average Leakage. 


Cast-Iron . . . 


10 per cent. 


" 


10 per cent. 


" 


10 to 12 per cent. 


" 


. ... .15 per cent. 


f< 


10 per cent. 


" 


15 per cent. 


" 


10 to 18 percent. 


" 


10 per cent. 


" 


25 per cent. 


" 


14 per cent. 


" 


15 per cent. 


" 


20 per cent. 


" 


... .19 per cent. 


" 


12 per cent. 


" 


14 per cent. 


" 


10 per cent. 


" 


13 per cent. 


" 


10 per cent. 


" 


30 per cent. 


" 


11 per cent. 



520 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Gallopolis O 

Cambridge Mass. . 

Canton O 

Charlotte N. C. 

Charlottsville Va . . . 

Chelsea Mass . 

Circleville O 

Columbia Tenn . 

Columbus Miss. 

Concord N. H.. 

Cooperstown N. Y. . 

Cortland N. Y. . 

Covington Ky 

Cumberland Md. . . . 

Dan vers Mass. 

Danville Ill 

Des Moines Iowa . 

Dover Del . . . 

East St. Louis .111... . 

Elgin 111.... 

Evansville Ind. . . 

Fitchburg Mass. . 

Fulton N. Y. 

Hyde Park 111.. . . 

Georgetown D. C. . 

Grand Rapids Mich . 

Guuison Col.. , . 

Hagerstown . . Md . . 

Hallowell Me... . 

Hamsburg Pa. . . . 

Hannibal Mo . . . 

Hanover Pa 

Hempstead Plains N. Y . . 

Hillsboro O .... 

Honesdale . . . Pa . . . 

Houston Texas 

Jackson Mich. 

Janesville Wis. . . 

Jefferson Mo . . . 

Jeffersonville Ind. . . 

Kansas City Mo . . . 

Keokuk Iowa. . 

Lafayette Ind . . 

Lawrence Kan . . 

Lawrence Mass . . 

Lexington Ky. . . 

Logan O 

Macon Ga 

Madison Ind 

Mansfield O 



. Cast- 



Iron 20 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

! 10 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 11 per cent. 

' 16 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

' 12 to 15 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 10 to 12 per cent. 

' 18 per cent. 

....... .10 per cent. 

' 30 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 13 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 14 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

10 per cent. 

' 12^ per cent. 

' 20 to 25 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

' 33 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 15 per cent. 

' 13 per cent. 

' 15 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 10 to 13 per cent. 

' 11 per cent. 

' 15 per cent. 

' 12 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

' 11 to 12 per cent. 

' .12 per cent. 

' 13 per cent. 

' 10 per cent. 

1 10 to 20 per cent. 

' 20 per cent. 

18 per cent. 

1 16 per cent. 

' 18 per cent. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 



521 



Marshall Mich 

Martinsburg W. Va. . . . 

Mechanicsburg Pa 

Milford Del.. ..... 

Milton Pa 

Montreal Can 

Nebraska City Neb 

Newburyport Mass 

New Rochelle N. Y. . . ... . 

Newton Mass 

Norristown Pa 

North Adams Mass 

Ottawa Ont 

Owego N. Y 

Pawtucket R. I 

Pittsfield Mass .... 

Philadelphia Pa 

Phillipsburg N. J 

Pittson Pa 

Plainfield N. J 

Portland . Oregon 

Portsmouth Va 

Quebec Can 

Richmond Ky 

Rockville Conn 

Rochester N. Y 

Salem Mass 

Sedalia Mo 

Sewickley Pa 

Sharon Pa 

Sharpsburg Pa 

Springfield Ill 

St. Louis Mo 

St. Paul Minn 

St. Thomas Ont 

Topeka Kan 

Troy N. Y 

Union Gas Light Co N. Y 

Virginia Nev 

Warren Pa 

West Troy N. Y 

Winchester Va 

Youngstown O 

Ypsilanti Mich 



. Cast Iron . 



j Wrought 
" Cast-iron. 



.10 per cent. 
.18 per cent. 
.20 per cent. 
.25 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
18 per cent. 
.15 per cent. 
.10 per cent. 
.10 per cent. 
.10 per cent. 
.About 20 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
.12 per cent. 
.25 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
. 15 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
. to per cent. 
.15 per cent. 
.10 per cent. 
.10 per cent. 
.12^4 per cent. 
, 10 to 15 per cent. 
.10 to 15 per cent. 
.15 per cent. 
.Over 12 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
.20 per cent. 
.20 per cent. 
.15 to 40 per cent. 
.12 per cent. 
. 15 per cent. 
. 12 per cent. 
.12 per cent. 
. 10 per cent. 
.10 to 12 per cent. 
. i6j^ per cent. 
. 4 per cent. 
• 9/1 per cent. 
.12 per cent. 
. Over 20 per cent. 
. 15 per cent. 
. 14 per cent. 
.20 per cent. 



Take the gas works at Montreal, Canada, for instance. 
Their annual production of gas is over 180,000,000 cubic feet ; 
the price is $2.00 per thousand. The loss by leakage, on the 



522 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



average, is 18 per cent., or 32,400,000 cubic feet. At $2.00 per 
thousand feet, the annual loss from leakage of this gas works 
company is $64,000 — certainly a very considerable item. This 
would go a great ways toward building a gas works. The im- 
portant factor of leakage can easily be computed at any of the 
other points by taking the annual production and the price. 

It is safe to say that the general use of wrought-iron pipe 
would reduce leakage, on the average, to at least one-fourth of 
what it now is in cast-iron systems, and the saving in coal, oil 
and other materials in the course of a year would certainly ag- 
gregate an enormous amount — enough to build many gas works. 

Mr. H. F. Coggshall, Superintendent of the Fitchburg Gas 
Company (Mass.), writes: "Both classes of pipe have their 
advantages; cast iron costs less, wrought iron has less leakage." 
Mr. Coggshall has been manager of the Fitchburg Gas Company 
for thirty-one years, and writes feelingly on the subject. At 
Mattoon, 111., a line of wrought-iron pipe has been in use twelve 
years, and there is no sign of corrosion, nor has there ever been 
any repairs. Mr. S. P. Thomas, of the gas works at Ellsworth, 
Me., prefers wrought-iron pipe, on account of the playful manner 
in which frost breaks cast-iron mains. Mr. N. N. Johnston, 
Superintendent of the Stillwater (Minn.) gas works, prefers 
wrought iron, his company having used both kinds. Mr. A. 
Seifert, Superintendent of the Mechanicsburg (Pa.) gas works, 
prefers wrought iron after having experience with both kinds. 
We attach no particular importance to an opinion in favor of 
either one or the other from anybody who has not used both. Mr. 
Edward C. Jones, Assistant Superintendent and Secretary of the 
South Boston Gas Works Company (Mass.) prefers wrought 
iron, providing it is properly coated. 

The Superintendent of the Albion (N. Y.) Gas Company 
agrees with Mr. Coggshall in his comparison, preferring wrought 
iron on account of its minimum leakage, but calling attention to 
the difference in expense between it and cast iron. Wm. Stofer, 
General Manager and Secretary of the Mt. Sterling (Ky.) gas 
works, gives wrought-iron pipe, galvanized, as the best, in his 
opinion. Mr. George S. Harris, Superintendent of the Mans- 
field (Ohio) gas works, is of the same opinion, and says that 
that is the kind of pipe he would use were he the proprietor and 
builder of a works. S. M. Simpler, Superintendent of the Mil- 
ford (Del.) Gas Company, thinks wrought-iron pipe is decidedly 
the best for his town. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 523 



Mr. L. L. Kellogg, Treasurer and Superintendent of the 
Nebraska City (Neb.) gas works, in writing about his cast-iron 
mains, says that he has never replaced any, but that he has had 
a large number of breaks from contraction, which adds greatly 
to the leakage. D. Moore, Treasurer of the Salem (Mass.) gas 
works, in speaking of his cast-iron mains, says that they cor- 
rode fast where the salt water penetrates the earth. W. P. 
Denny, Secretary and Treasurer of the Georgetown (Col.) gas 
works, on being asked if he had used both kinds, and in that 
event which he would recommend, says positively that he would 
use " wrought-iron by all means. " 

J. M. Hume, Superintendent of the Macomb (111.) gas 
works, makes the same recommendation, as also does R. C. 
Humphrey, Superintendent of the Ashtabula (Ohio) gas works. 
On being asked the condition of his cast-iron mains, Mr. Elbert, 
Superintendent of the Jackson gas works, Jackson, Mich , re- 
plied that corrosion had reduced some, of his mains to a mere 
shell. J. S. Kaneen, Superintendent of the Virginia Gas Com- 
pany, Virginia, Nev. , prefers wrought iron for mains, and it is 
no wonder, considering the difference in leakage, as you will ob- 
serve from the list. He has both kinds in his system, and is, 
therefore, well qualified to judge. Some few years ago at Co- 
lumbia, Tenn., the leakage of the cast-iron pipe system, put in 
at that point, was found to be 20 per cent., and not until they 
discovered a large sand hole, through which a great volume of 
gas was escaping, did they reduce this to about the average of 
all cast-iron gas systems. 

Few people appreciate the extent of leakage of gas from 
cast-iron mains, but it is an encouraging sign of the times that 
advanced engineers are giving the question much careful study. 
Heretofore the greater first cost of wrought-iron and steel pipe 
for gas mains has enabled the cast-iron pipe makers to occupy 
the field almost exclusively ; but the question of leakage has 
grown to such important dimensions that the first, or tem- 
porary, cost of wrought-iron mains dwarfs into insignificance 
compared with the second, or perennial, cost of cast-iron mains. 
Each year the number of advocates of wrought-iron systems is 
greatly augmented. 

I do not know that I can give you a better illustration of the 
difference between the leakage of a cast-iron pipe system and 
that of a wrought-iron pipe system than to reproduce in par- 



524 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



allel lines copies of two or three letters taken at random from 
among the users of the respective classes. 



CAST-IRON SYSTEMS. 



Nantucket Gas Light Co., I 
Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 14, 1893. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

Gentlemen : — Yours of the 2d at hand. 
Our mains are of cast-iron. We attribute 
our loss of gas to general leakage. 
(Signed) Nantucket Gas Lt. Co. 

per Macmunn. 
[This company's "unaccounted for gas" 
for the year ending June 30, 1893, was 
17.64 per cent, of entire product.] 

Waltham Gas Light Co , I 
Waltham, Mass., Aug. 1, 1893. f 
National Tube Works Co. 

Gentlemen : — Our great loss of gas is 
caused by the putting in of the sewer 
system our city has been engaged in for 
two or three years, breaking of mains, 
and settling of earth over and about our 
pipes. We expect it to continue for some 
time to come. The length of time the 
mains have been down does not seem to 
enter into the trouble, as some of the 
most recently laid pipe gives way. The 
pipes here are of cast-iron. 

(Signed) G. A. Stearns, 

Treasurer. 

[This company's "unaccounted for gas" 
for year ending June 30, 1893, was 3,904,600, 
being 11.94 P er cent, of entire product.] 



Adams, Mass., Sept. 23, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Loss of gas mainly is in the breaking of 
the cast-iron pipes. In the winter some 
of our pipes were very much injured. The 
water mains were laid over our pipes, 
allowing them to settle and occasioning 
the breaking. 

(Signed) Daniel Upton, Pres. 



WROUGHT-IRON SYSTEMS. 



Cottage City Gas & Elec Lt. Co.. \ 
Cottage City, Mass., Aug. 12, 1893. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

Gentlemen : — The loss of gas is 
probably the amount used by the office, 
works, and some free consumers. The 
loss by leakage is less than one foot per 
hour. The mains are wrought-iron. 
(Signed) Lewis Bartlett, Agt. 
Cottage City Gas & Elec. Lt. Co. 



Standard Gas Light Co., I 
New York, Feb. 25, 1890. | 
Emerson McMillan, Prest. Laclede Gas 
Co., St. Louis, Mo. 

We find wrought-iron gas mains prac- 
tically stop all leakage. Only leaks we 
have are on cast-iron crosses and sleeves. 
Leakage on cast-iron lines in this city 
average 14 per cent. Ours (wrought-iron) 
does not exceed 1 per cent. 
(Signed) O. P. Shaffer, Treas'r, 

Standard Gas Light Co. 



The City Gas Company, \ 
London, Canada, July 17, 1894. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

* * * I have laid this spring some 
65,000 feet of 4-inch wrought-steel pipe in 
the renewal spoken of, and I know that 
every foot is gas tight and will remain so 
permanently, being entirely different to 
a cast-iron main system in this respect. 
* * * I would wager that wrought-iron 
pipe treated in this manner will last one 
hundred years. * * * I would not go 
back to cast-iron pipe for gas mains, es- 
pecially of the smaller sizes, under any 
consideration. 

(Signed) William Duffield, 

President. 



These are not isolated cases. There are many other com- 
parisons that could be made. In this connection a study of the 
tables published in the annual reports of the Board of Gas and 
Electric Light Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, published annually since 1888 as Public Document 
No. 35, impresses one with the enormous loss from this cause. 
The documents give a number of tables of great interest; but 
the ones to which I would call your particular attention, and ask 
your special examination, are those which give the total "gas 



GAS LEAKAGE. 



525 



unaccounted for," and also the " gas unaccounted for per mile of 



It was not until last year that one of these reports fell into 
my hands, and in looking over the "gas unaccounted for," I 
felt that there must be some mistake about the percentages, or 
else there was some exceptional reason for the great loss in the 
year ending June 30, 1892; so I sent to Forest E. Barker. Sec- 
retary of the Commission, and obtained a complete set of the 
reports, an examination of which shows that 1892 was no ex- 
ception, but that the great loss has not only been going on for 
years, but is gradually increasing year after year as the pipe 
becomes older. 

A glance at the following table, comprising but 20 of the 
works reported upon by the Commission, shows that during 
the year ending June 30, 1893, these companies lost the enor- 
mous sum of $191,340. 18. 



Name of Company. 



Adams 

Arlington 
Attleborough . 

Boston 

Brockton .... 

Brookline 

Clinton 

Cambridge . . . 
Charlestown . . 

Dedliam 

Lowell 

Lynn 

Maiden 

New Bedford. 

Newton 

North Adams . 

Salem 

Springfield . . . 

Taunton 

Waltham 



Feet of Gas 
Uuaccounted For. 



Price per 
1,000 Feet. 



1,196,400 


$2.41 


1,437,420 


2.75 


1,007,700 


2.00 


22,914,491 


1 .20 


5,334.900 


2.06 


9,794,288 


1 .92 


1,941,135 


2.07 


11,954,422 


i-57 


7,002.555 


1.69 


1,420,400 


1-93 


15,699,100 


1. 10 


7,432,300 


1.5S 


3,748,200 


1. 91 


3,816,503 


1-59 


7,083,200 


1-95 


3,934,000 


1.74 


5,549,139 


1.76 


3,503,980 


1 .69 


2,156,600 


1.47 


3,216,300 


1.89 



I^oss on Account 

of Gas 
Unaccounted For. 



120,143,033 



I-59X 



$2,883.32 
3,952. 91 
2,015.40 

27,497-39 
10,989.39 
18,805.03 

4,018.15 
18,768.44 
11,834-32 

2,741-37 
17,269.01 

ii,743-03 
7,159.06 
6,068.24 

13,812.24 
6,845.16 
9,766.46 

5,9 2I -73 
3,170.20 
6,078.81 



$191,340. iS 



The next is a comparative table, showing the production of 
gas and its consumption for the years 1891 and 1892. Note 
well the gas unaccounted for per mile of main. 



^ g 

°* n ^ S l 

08 p-3 1 



O m LO PI CO ON PI VO m CO ON ON COCO CO CO cOVO O VO 

CO O OW h ^-n NOW -tN -rtCO VO ■* -+VO 10 <N 

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528 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Examine carefully the following table showing the percentage of 
"gas unaccounted for" for the years 1886 to 1893, inclusive, and note 
the constant tax upon the companies from this cause. 

Percentage oe Gas Unaccounted For. Years Ending June 30. 



Company. 



Adams , 

Amesbury , 

Arlington 

Athol 

Attleborough 

Bay State 

Beverly 

Boston , 

Brockton , 

Brookline 

Cambridge 

Charlestown, 

Chelsea 

Chicopee 

Citizens' (Quincy) 

Citizens' (Wakefield) 

Clinton 

Cottage City 

Danvers 

Dedhatn 

Dorchester 

East Boston 

Easthampton 

Fall River 

Fitchburg 

Framingham 

Gloucester 

Greenfield 

Haverhill 

Holyoke 

Jamaica Plain 

Lawrence 

Lowell 

Lynn 

Maiden 

Manufacturers' (Fall River] 

Marblehead 

Marlborough 

Milford ...- 

Miller's River 

Nantucket. 

Natick 

New Bedford 

Newbury port 

Newton 

North Adams 

Northampton 

North Attleborough 

Norwood 

Pittsfield 

Plymouth 

Roxbury 

Salem , 

South Boston 

Spencer 

Springfield 

Taunton 

Waltham 

Ware , 

Webster 

Westfield 

Woburn 

Worcester 



I8S6. 


1887. 


1888. 


1889. 


1890. 


1891. 


7.14 


10.10 


22.93 


13-57 


22.73 


21.86 






13 47 


16.51 


13.84 


7.01 


23-79 


21.99 


20.02 


20.18 


19-13 


15-47 


For 


merly 


Miller's 


River. 




6.89 


16.41 


7.46 


14.40 


13-74 
5-05 


15-74 
.07 


9-52 


27.70 


26.87 


21 66 


12.23 


10.41 


7-75 


6.38 


6-34 


6.15 


6-75 


8.44 


4.86 


20.45 


24.10 


18.12 


15-13 


18.42 


21.70 


15-68 


12.19 


14.56 


10-93 


I! .09 


15-07 


11.05 


9.10 


9-35 


7-55 


7.40 


8.65 


"•45 


11.62 


14.79 


13-33 


13-31 


11.90 


I9-3I 


21.66 


21-73 


16.28 


I4.9I 


14.22 


15-93 


15-42 


17-03 


17.19 


15-35 


17-30 


6.90 


19-73 


15.02 


21-94 


11.04 


23-25 


20.09 


26.69 


27-15 


26.26 


16.59 


16.06 


19.81 


13.22 


17-13 


21.62 


n-55 
24.38 


2.71 
25.48 


33-53 


40. 86 


35-12 


3I-I3 


20.40 


20.06 


25-03 


15-83 


19.86 


18.48 


21 14 


20.97 


11.84 


13.22 


13.24 


12.40 


•75 


.02 


6.04 


8.12 


10.84 


9-85 


6-93 


10.54 


15-49 


16.70 


17.17 


13-30 


14 93 


9-97 


13.03 


12.15 


13 79 


12.30 


14. 11 


8.20 


10.37 


6.46 


5-65 


6.81 


7-56 


7.28 
34-87 


9.86 


12.75 


10.98 


9-65 


5-42 


7.06 


29.02 


19-45 


24.51 


22 31 


1645 


11.79 


4-38 


4.84 


2.52 


5.00 


5-77 


5-32 


10.56 


9.02 


11.16 


12.30 


8.21 


7-47 


J7-43 


13.88 


13-57 


9 10 


8 71 


8 46 


11. 18 


10.00 


10.02 


9.72 


8.12 


9-35 


6.12 


5-oi 


3-35 


5-51 


4-94 


5-09 


16.60 


14.89 


14.69 


13-39 


12.63 


11. 51 


13-63 


12 90 


11. 91 


8.24 


4.46 


8.17 


11.72 


9.02 


11. 91 


9-34 


5-98 


8.23 


10.98 


12.16 


13-08 


13.16 


20.34 


25.58 


16.09 


17.96 


18.15 


17.30 


11.90 


16.39 


5-47 


6.80 


6.42 


7.40 


8.99 


5-97 


8.51 


8.12 


13 82 


9.46 


5-78 


now 


12.93 


9.1S 


17.80 


11.50 


H-45 


21.68 


6.27 


6.67 


10.27 


4.64 


7.42 


5-03 


8. 65 


8-43 


8 21 


7.81 


3-34 


7.82 


9.64 


9.86 


9 7i 


11.36 


20.25 


I7-S5 


10.42 


9.17 


10.17 


9.28 


9. 12 


9.98 


10.95 


10.37 


12.29 


H-25 


14-35 


20.96 


11. 17 


12.24 


10 42 


7.81 


11.49 


9-52 


12.29 


10.28 


8.90 


8.71 


6.42 


8.79 


10.09 


7 83 


n.32 


12.64 


9.17 


10. 5 S 


4.88 


5.26 


6.91 


1.24 


3-75 


5.76 


4.69 


7.18 


9-56 


9-36 


8.28 


•65 


12.19 


14.90 


13-95 


15-32 


14.65 


15-24 


9-49 


8.31 


9.68 


9 09 


6.92 


10.26 






8 49 


8.76 


7.98 


2.90 


6.Q9 


10.22 


6.15 


4.62 


3-83 


3-63 


4.46 


1.66 


3-74 


5-15 


3-6i 


4-95 


4-3i 


4.81 


6.28 


3 66 


3.02 


5-84 


10.32 


6.71 


9-36 


10.65 


8.51 


10.19 


37-30 


36.76 


24.20 


22.33 


14.70 


15-03 


12.13 


11.00 


13.66 


14.40 


8.23 


9-39 


8.74 


6.61 


8.90 


8 59 


6.14 


5-17 


7.86 


7. 11 


8.92 


7-13 


5-69 


4.66 



32.93 
8.70 

19.17 
4.72 

"•57 
.18 
9.87 
1.64 
22.31 
12.80 
8.42 
7-94 
15-23 
13-77 
19-50 
18.55 
22.89 
21.19 
19.83 
20.37 

10.48 
17-94 
6-35 
8.60 
9.86 
5-95 
14.36 
6.21 
8.84 
8 98 
9-63 
6.05 
8.23 
9.27 
10.31 
25.70 
21.65 
9.26 
Athol 
14.99 
11.72 
8.99 
13-19 
H-34 
18.61 
18.43 
8.69 



1893. 



11. 14 

5-42 

.58 

13.42 
9-97 

11.78 
3-93 
5-24 

10.38 
7.06 

16 55 

12.00 
4.91 
5.65 



22.23 
7.60 
19.66 

4-49 

9.88 

.08 

8.30 

2.05 

18.29 

18.69 

9.40 

13.61 

21.03 

10.73 

23 12 

16.10 

3°-95 

24.98 

17-49 
20.33 

n-57 
19-39 
6.49 
7-59 
7-43 
4.90 
11.02 
11.42 
8.74 
11.00 
8.72 
5-47 
8-73 
13-24 
11.85 
32 37 
6.59 
11. 21 



17.64 
6.08 

10.96 

18.85 
9-44 

17 97 

15-35 
7.09 

n-73 
7-53 
1.25 
12.53 
10.43 
13 55 
6.86 
4.90 
11.94 

9-79 
20.13 
8.00 
4.76 
8.22 



GAS LEAKAGE. 529 



The elements which go to make up the enormous loss which 
the Commissioners generalize under the head of Gas Unac- 
counted For, may be classified as "Leakage," "Condensation," 
" Escape through street lamps, " " Slow Meters " and "Stealing." 

The loss through stealing is admittedly infinitesimal, as it is 
almost impossible to maintain secret taps or connections ahead 
of the meter without discovery, and as the gas man is generally 
on the lookout for such things, discovery is made pretty quickly. 

We all know that some meters are slow, but under the law 
of average, which is a very good one, is it not fair to assume 
that there are fast meters to equalize any loss from slow ones? 

The loss attributable to street lamps is not as great as one 
would suppose at first blush, because if the key failed to shut the 
gas off, it would not extinguish the flame. The bulk of gas that 
escapes through street lamps will be found, upon investigation, 
to have escaped through some aperture in the main, and, liber- 
ated, flows along the line of least resistance, which very fre- 
quently is along the main to the street lamp service, thence along 
the service pipe and into the open air through the lamp-post. 

The amount of condensation, of course, depends upon the 
difference between the temperature at which the gas is measured 
into the mains, and the temperature at which it passes through 
the consumer's meter. 

Leakage, however, is the cardinal factor which goes to make 
up the amount of gas unaccounted for. 

Being much interested in this subject, we addressed a letter 
to all of the gas companies named in the Commissioners' report 
and were in most cases favored with reply. Some of the com- 
panies, however, made no response to our inquiries. 

A perusal of the copies of the replies we received will show 
the treacherous nature and undesirable character of cast-iron for 
street mains. Many cases are reported of breaks in cast-iron 
mains caused by frost and the settling of the back filling in 
sewer and other excavations that intersect the mains. As the 
mains are never more than a few feet from the surface, you can 
readily estimate the pressure on the mains from this latter cause. 

These are not the only causes for broken cast-iron pipes. 
The experience of all who have had to do with them is that they 
will break under the slightest provocation. If workmen when 
digging for services happen to strike the pipe with the pick, 
away it goes, and many breaks have occurred from the picks and 
rammers in the hands of the street pavers. 



530 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



In fact, it would be impossible to enumerate the many causes 
which arise to break the brittle material from time to time. As 
sewers, water mains and other subway systems are absolutely 
necessary in every city, and as the constant digging up of the 
streets for new gas and water taps, etc., is unavoidable, is not 
the settling of the back filling, as well as the paving and re-pav- 
ing of streets, an ever-present factor to be taken into considera- 
tion, and is any class of material unable to withstand such con- 
ditions suitable for conducting necessary though deadly and 
noisome gases through the public streets ? 

A study of the foregoing tables and the mathematical pro- 
cess of multiplying the number of feet unaccounted for by the 
respective price per thousand feet, which you will find in tabular 
form on page 528 will convince you of the tremendous annual tax 
on cast-iron gas systems from this one source. It may be argued, 
and very properly, too, that multiplying the gas unaccounted 
for by the selling price per thousand feet magnifies the loss. 
Granted. But as the companies do not give out their costs, we 
cannot figure on any other basis. As an offset to this it must be 
borne in mind that the loss thus indicated is entirely exclusive 
of the cost of labor and material required to repair the breaks. 

Following are the copies of such replies as we received to 
our letters of inquiry. 

I will first give you the text of our letter, and I apprehend 
that you will agree with me that the letter was a fair one and 
without prejudice, and left the several companies to make such 
answer as they might think proper: 

Chicago, September 20, 1893. 
Adams Gas Light Company, Adams, Mass. : 

We have had the pleasure of perusing the Eighth Annual Report of the 
Board of Gas and Electric Eight Commissioners of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, and note in one of the tables that a large amount of gas is 
unaccounted for. Will you kindly advise us as to what cause your Company 
attributes its loss of gas, whether its mains are cast or wrought-iron, and 
about the length of time the mains have been in service. 

(Signed) National Tube; Works Company; 



ADAMS GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Adams, Mass., September 23, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Eoss of gas mainly is in the breaking of the cast-iron pipes. In the 
winter some of our pipes were very much injured. The water mains were 



GAS LEAKAGE. 531 



laid over the pipes, allowing them to settle and occasioning the breaking. 
Yours got mislaid. 

(Signed) Daniel Upton, Prest. 



ATTLEBOROUGH GAS LIGHT CO. 

Atteeborough, Mass., Aug. 10, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

One cause of our leakage is that one section of our town is coarse 
gravel, and in cold weather the frost affects our joints. You must remem- 
ber that small works with long stretch of mains, the per cent, of shrinkage 
will be larger than vice versa. 

We have adopted the course, and all above 3-inch are cast-iron, and all 
below 3-inch are wrought-iron. 

(Signed) ATT. Gas Lt. Co. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 1,007,700 feet. At $2.00 per 1000 feet, 
amounts to 12,015.40. Their entire output was but 8,710,500 
feet. 

Boston, Mass., Aug. 11, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The companies I am engineer of are the Bay State, Roxbury, Dorches- 
ter, South Boston and Boston. All except the South Boston have been 
taken up and leakage reduced. 

Cast-iron is used nearly exclusively, except for services where wrought- 
iron is used. The mileage of each is about the same. Care is the principal 
thing to allow good results. 

(Signed) W. R. Addicks, Engineer. 

The above companies— exclusive of the Dorchester, which 
is not reported — " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, aggregates the enormous amount of 33,797,614 
feet, as follows : 
Boston Gas Light Co.. .... 22,914,491 ft. @ $1.20 $27,497 39 

Bay State Gas Co 1,669,390 ft. @ 1.00 1,669 39 

Roxbury Gas Co 959,477 ft. @ 1.53 1,468 00 

South Boston Gas Co 8,254,256 ft. @ 1.55 i3, I2 4 2 3 

Total 33,797,614 ft. $43,759 OI 



Oeeice oe Brockton Gas Light Co., ) 
Brockton, Mass., Aug. 10th, 1893. ) 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your " inquiry as to the cause of leakage," we would give 
the following as the principal ones, viz. : 



532 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ist. We attribute considerable to a few sections of Kalamein pipe, 4- 
inch, in the joints of which we have found leaks. Pipe in service some 6 or 
8 years. 

2d. On our cast-iron pipe sections, when the pipe has been put in 
before the streets were made to grade, that in grading the same our pipe 
has been left so shallow that the traffic over them affects the pipe, spring- 
ing the joints (all lead), and now and then after the city roller has gone 
over those parts we find a break. 

3d. The frost now and then cracks those shallow pipes. 

4th. Another reason for leakage is that some sections have been laid 
by contract, rushed through, and not properly done. 

5th. And the worst cause is now on our principal mains, one a 6-inch ; 
the electrical cars run over this, and our line for the most part lies immedi- 
ately under the track, and where the streets have been graded there does 
not seem to be distance enough between the track and our pipes — some 
places hardly 2 feet 6 inches, and to the weight and jolting of the cars we 
attribute lots of our troubles. Sometimes you can, or seem to, feel the side- 
walk even shake when the electric cars pass. 

Now, not only does the weight and jolting of the cars affect our pipe, 
but I am beginning to think, and have for some time, that the return 
current to the power station (ours is an overhead system) has some effect on 
our pipe. They form a conductor for the fluid better than the earth, and from 
the looks of the joints (lead), I am of the opinion that the electric current, 
especially at the joints, does harm. (Do you know anything on this 
subject that would be of interest to us?) Of course, there are other causes 
for unaccounted-for gas — slowness of meters. I took one out this week 
only 50 per cent, slow — (a 2 light). Stealage I do not think amounts to 
much. I have never struck a case yet. 

Carrying a little too much day pressure, 15/10, which we have to do to 
give some parties the necessary pressure, etc., etc. 

If, in return for this, you can give us any points that would tend to 
decrease the leakage question, they would be received with thanks. Yours 
truly, 

(Signed) E. 13. Mooney, Supt. B. Gas Lt. Co. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 5,334,900 feet, which, at $2.06 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $10,989.99. 

CHICOPEE GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

ChicopEE, Mass., Aug. nth, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

As to the cause of our loss of gas, we attribute it partly to the fact that 

the gas is not sufficiently condensed before passing the station meter and 

partly to old pipes that have been in the ground from 30 to 40 years. 

(Signed) D. BoynTon, Supt. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 1,388,232 feet, which, at $1.82 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $3,526.58. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 533 



Does not Supt. Boynton get very close to the facts when he 
says that he attributes the great loss " partly to old pipes," etc. ? 



CLINTON GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

CunTON, Mass., Aug. nth, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Our leak was accidental, and all difficulty has been obviated. 
Our pipes are mostly new and in good order. 
We have no desire to change and see no need of it now. 
Thanking you for your attention, I am, 

(vSigned) H. N. BiGEEOW, Tr. Clinton Gas Lt. Co. 

This company's total output for the year ending June 30, 
1892, was but 8,460,700 feet; its loss on account of "unac- 
counted-for gas " was 22.89 per cent, of total output, or 1,941,135 
feet, which, at $2.07 per 1,000 feet, is $4,018.15, and this in the 
face of Mr. Bigelow's statement, viz. : 

Our Pipes are Mostly New and in Good Order. 

The certified report to the State Board of Commissioners 
shows that the loss on account of " unaccounted-for gas " for 
the year ending June 30th, 1891, was but 2.71 per cent. , while 
for the year ending June 30th, 1892, it was 22.89 per cent., a 
tremendous increase of loss over 1891. 

Brother Bigelow, are you sure that your pipes are in good 
order ? They may be " mostly new," but are they in " good 
order " ? 



COTTAGE CITY GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY. 

Cottage City, Mass., Aug. 12th, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The loss of gas is probably the amount used by the office, works and 
some free consumers. 

The loss by leakage is less than one foot per hour. 
The mains are wrought iron. 

(Signed) Lewis BartlETT, Agent, 

Cottage City Gas and Electric Light Co. 

Of the 63 gas companies in Massachusetts to whom our 
letter of inquiry was addressed, but seven of them have failed 
to report the amount of gas used at works and offices during 
the year ending June 30th, 1892, and this company is one of the 
number. 



534 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



DANVERS GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Danvers, Mass., Aug. 14, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of the 29th ult. received. The cause of our leakage is due to 
leaks iu our four miles of cast-iron pipe. We have about four miles of cast- 
iron pipe and one mile of wrought-iron pipe. The cast-iron pipe has been 
in use some years. 

(Signed) D. J. O'Neie, Supt. of Company. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 532,500 feet, which, at $2.65 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $1,411.13, same being 19.83^ entire output. 



CAMBRIDGE GAS LIGHT CO. 



Superintendent's Oeeice, \ 
E. Cambridge, Aug. 12, 1893. j 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of July 28th, will say: 

First. I suppose your inquiry is intended if possible to prove the theory 
that wrought iron is a more durable metal to employ for gas mains than 
cast iron. 

Now as to the cause for unaccounted-for gas. This is rather a difficult 
question to answer. Speaking for Cambridge alone, we have a large ter- 
ritory. We have now nearly one hundred miles of mains. A large part of 
this pipe is laid in filled land, which is always uncertain. During the past 
winter when the frost was nearly five feet deep, our mains were broken sonre 
40 times. Now, a large proportion of these breaks were caused by sewer 
trenches being excavated under and across our mains. Being imperfectly 
filled the earth settles, and the pipe breaks. 

Our mains are nearly all cast iron. We believe, with the nature of the 
soil taken into consideration, much of it being coal ashes, that cast iron is 
preferable to wrought. Our mains have been laid from one year to thirty- 
five years. 

In looking over the Commissioners' report, it is desirable to compare 
the different items with care. For instance, the percentage of unaccounted 
for gas of the Boston Co. was only 1.64 while that of Cambridge was 8.42, 
but on the other hand, the unaccounted-for gas per mile of mains of the 
former was 173,000 feet, while that of the latter was only 139,000 feet. 

(Signed) H. A. Allyn, Supt. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " during the year end- 
ing June 30th, 1892, was 11,954,422 feet, which, at $1.57 per 
1,000 feet, amounts to $18,768.44. 

Mr. Allyn's supposition is not in good taste. Our letter 
could not possibly be construed to mean what Mr. Allyn takes 
upon himself to suggest. The letter was simply to get at the 
facts as to the causes of leakage or, as the State Commissioners' 



GAS LEAKAGE. 535 



report has it, "gas unaccounted for for year ending June 30, 
1892." He admits, however, that " Our mains were broken 
some 40 times during the past winter when the frost was nearly 
five feet deep." Query — Did he ever know of gas mains of 
wrought iron that were burst by the frost ? 



EASTHAMPTON GAS COMPANY. 

Easthampxon, Mass., Aug. 13th, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of July 29th at hand. In reply will say our mains are mostly 
cast-iron, small sizes. 

There is where our leakage is. 

Our small consumption in summer time makes the per cent, very large. 
I do not believe in two-inch cast-iron mains. We have four miles of cast- 
iron mains all told. We have reduced our loss very much this summer by 
laying wrought-iron pipe. 

(Signed) Geo. T. Manchester, Supt. 

This company's ' unaccounted-for gas " for year ending June 
30th, 1891, was 9.97^ of the output, and for the same period — 
year ending June 30th, 1892 — it was 17.94$ of its entire output. 
Its " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending June 30, 1892, 
was 693,600 feet, which, at $2.50 per 1,000 feet, amounts to 

$r,734- 

It will be interesting to note their loss for the year ending 
June 30th, 1894, when they have had one year's service of a 
portion of their new wrought-iron pipe main. 



FITCHBTJKG GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY. 

FiTchburg, Mass, Aug. nth, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Our gas is metered at a much higher temperature than consumers, as a 
rule. Then there is more or less condensation. Much " unaccounted-for 
gas " is through street lamps. The remainder is caused by broken pipes. 
Our mains are cast-iron ; some of them have been in use 40 years. 

(Signed) H. F. Coggshaix, Tr. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 1,712,900 feet, which, at $1.91, amounts to 
$3,271.64- 



536 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



LEOMINSTER GAS COMPAN5T. 

Leominster, Mass., Aug n, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

By examining closely pages 70 and 71 of the report referred to above, 
you will find but two places (where any record was kept) where the " un- 
accounted-for gas" per mile of main was less than ours. Our percentage is 
very much larger, of course, than it would be if our output was larger. 

Our pipes are of cast-iron, and are in excellent condition after 20 years' 
usage. You must know that per mile of main is the only fair way of com- 
parison, as the leakage would be but little more with five times the output. 
(Signed) H. M. Lane, Treasurer. 

This company's losses per mile of mains for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 19,941 feet. Its total output for the same 
period was but 2,254,270 feet, and its " gas unaccounted for " for 
the same time was 146,170 feet, which, at $3.94 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $575.91. 

LYNN GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY. 

Lynn, Mass, Aug. 12, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

" Unaccounted for gas," in our opinion, is due to : 

1st. — Leakage. 

2d. — Non-registration or slow registration of meters. 

3d. — Changes due to temperature, the gas being usually measured at 
the works at a higher temperature than when cold, etc., etc. 

Our mains are cast-iron, from 1 to 40 years old. 

Our soil affects wrought-iron unfavorably. 

(Signed) C. F. Pritchakd, Supt. 

This company's " unaccounted for gas" for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 7,432,300 feet, which, at $1.58 per 1,000 feet 
amounts to $11,743.03. 



MALDEN AND MELROSE GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Madden, Mass., Aug. 12, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours would say that the most of our leakage is caused by 
the sewers which are being put in the different streets, and then again, more 
or less condensation. 

Our pipes are cast-iron, and have been in use ever since the works were 
started ; that is to say, some of them. 

(Signed) M. & M. G. L. Co. 

(U.) 

This company's "unaccounted-for gas" for the year end- 
ing June 30th, 1892, was 3,748,200 feet, which at $1.91 per 1,000 
feet, amounts to $7,159.06. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 537 



MILFORD GAS LIGHT CO. 

MiLFORD, Mass., Aug. 19, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In compliance to your request will say that there are many causes by 
which the loss per cent, looks large. 

The station meter may not be correct. 

Condensation more in gas made from some coal than others. 

Leaky mains. 

Our mains are cast-iron. 

(Signed) J. J. NuTTER. 

This company's "unaccounted-for gas" for the year end- 
ing June 30th, 1892, was 963,600 feet, which at $1.83 per 1,000 
feet, amounts to $1,799.99. 



NANTUCKET GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 14, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of 2d at hand. Our mains are of cast-iron. We attribute our loss 
of gas to general leakage. 

(Signed) Nant. Gas Lt. Co. 

Per Macmunn. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 342,000 feet (14.99$ °f output), which, at 
$2.55 per 1,000 feet, is $872.10. 



NEW BEDFORD GAS AND EDISON LIGHT COMPANY. 

New Bedford, Mass., Aug. 12, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have your letter of August 2d, and in reply would say that our 
" unaccounted for gas " is due to leakage very largely. 

Our pipes are of cast-iron except the services, and have been in use 
varying periods, from one to forty years. Part of the trouble undoubtedly 
comes from the joints, some of which are of cement and some of lead. 

(Signed) Charles R. Price, Treasurer. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 3,816,503 feet, which, at $1.59 per 1,000 
feet, amounts to $6,068.24. 



NEWBURYPORT GAS AND ELECTRIC CO. 

Newburyport, Mass., Aug. 15th, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The cause of our great loss of gas (as per report referred to) was because 
of the introduction of sewerage through our streets, thus breaking our mains 
and causing bad leaks. 



538 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Our mains are cast-iron and are in good condition. The metal appears 
to be hard whenever we drill for supplies. 

(Signed) D. D. Tieton, Treasurer. 

Per A. D. T. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 1,282,800 feet (13.19 per cent, of output) 
which, at $2.03 per 1,000 feet, amounts to $2,604.08. 



NEWTON GAS CO. 

Newton, Mass., Aug. 17, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Cast-iron — 30 years — leaky joints and sewer construction affecting our 
pipes. 

(Signed) Newton Gas Co. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 7,083,200 feet which, at $1.95 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $13,812.24. 



NORTHAMPTON GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Northampton, Mass., Aug. 11, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We attribute the great amount of gas unaccounted for by our company 
to the sewering of the city, which was commenced some three or more years 
ago. In making excavations our pipes were undermined and settled, and 
have been continually settling and breaking. Our loss the past year was 
fully equal to the previous one (which was 2,645,535 feet). Our mains are 
all of cast-iron, and some of them have been down for 25 years or more. 
(Signed) Northampton Gas Lt. Co. 

Geo. P. Dickinson, Tr. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for 1892 — year end- 
ing June 30th — was 2,645,535 feet, at $1.88 per 1,000 feet, amounts 
to $4,973- 61 - 

PITTSFIELD GAS CO. 

Pittsfieed, Mass., Aug. 10, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Unaccounted for gas arises largely from leaks caused by sewers being 
built and undermining the pipes. We have mainly cast-iron pipes, and they 
have been in use since 1854, except enlargements and extensions from time 
to time. 

(Signed) Pittsfteld Gas Co. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 1,704,150 feet. At $1.89 per 1,000 feet, 
it amounts to $3,220.84. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 539 



THE SPRINGFIELD GAS LIGHT CO. 

Springfield, Mass., August n, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Iu reply to yours of the first inst., " in regard to our leakage account," 
would say that our experience is the same as most every company in the 
Bast and North, namely, broken pipes from the frost in winter, broken 
pipes from the settling of sewer and water pipes in the summer. Our 
pipes are practically all cast-iron. 

(Signed) I. B. Ai<i,en, Treas. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 3,503,980 feet, which, at $1.69 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $5,921.73. 

TAUNTON GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

Taunton, Mass., Aug. 11, 1893. 
National Tube JCorks Co. 

Our mains are all cast-iron. Our greatest loss is caused by breaking of 
pipe from sewer excavations, condensation, and the location of meters is 
another element that adds to it. Our percentage, however, we consider 

quite low. 

(Signed) Taunton Gas Lt. Co. 

By Henry B. Leach, Supt. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for the year ending 
June 30, 1892, was 2,156,600 feet, which, at $1.47 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $3,170.20. 



WALTHAM GAS LIGHT COMPANY. 

WalTham, Mass., Aug. 1, 1S93. 
Natio?ial Tube Works Co. 

Our great loss of gas is caused by the putting in of the sewer system 
our city has been engaged in for two or three years. 

Breaking of mains and settling of earth over and about our pipes. We 
expect it to continue for some time to come. The length of time the mains 
have been down does not seem to enter into the trouble as some of the most 
recently laid pipe gives way. The pipes here are of cast-iron. 

(Signed) G. A. Stearns, Treas. 

This company's " unaccounted-for gas " for year ending June 
30th, 1892, was 3,216,300 feet, which, at $1.89 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $6,078.81. 

OTIS COMPANY. 

Ware, Mass., August 11, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your favor of 7th inst. (to Ware Gas Light Co.), would say 
that our mains above four-inch are cast-iron, and under four-inch wrought- 



540 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



iron. Some of these mains have been in forty years and others from two to 
eight years. 

Last year we had one or two bad breaks in the pipe, which would ac- 
count for our loss being greater than usual. 

(Signed) Edwin H. Baker, Agent. 

Per Geo. E. Tucker. 

This company's "unaccounted-for gas" for year ending 
June 30th, 1892, was 304,390 feet, which, at $2.24 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $681.83. 



WOBUBN GAS LIGHT COMPANY". 

Woburn, Mass., Aug. n, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to yours of the 7th inst., we would say that our loss, which is 
about 5%, we attribute mostly to loss in the yard. Our pipes are in great 
part cast-iron, and they have been in use about thirty-eight years. Trusting 
that this fulfills your requirements, we remain, 

(Signed) J. GlECREAST, Supt. 

This company's output for year ending June 30, 1892, was 
8,501,100 feet, being its entire sales per meters, public lamps, etc., 
and also the gas used at works and in offices. Its "unaccounted- 
for gas " amounts to 467,000 feet, which, at $r.y8 per 1,000 feet, 
amounts to $831.26. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 



541 



From the "Commissioners' Report" upon the 28 companies 
who have replied to our letter, we tabulate the following : 



Adams 

Bay State 

Boston 

Brockton 

Cambridge 

Chicopee 

Clinton 

Danvers 

Easthampton. . . 

Fitehburg 

Leominster 

Lynn 

Maiden 

Milford 

Nantucket 

New Bedford . . . 
Newbury port. . . 

Newton 

Northampton. . . 

Pittsfield 

Roxbury 

South Boston . . 

Springfield 

Taunton 

Waltham 

Ware (Otis Co.). 

Woburn 

Attleborough . . . 



Feet of Gas 
'Unaccounted for' 



22, 

5. 
11 



Totals. 



196,400 
669,330 
914,941 
334,90° 
,954,422 
,388,232 

,941.135 

532,500 

693,600 

,712,900 

146,170 

,432,30° 
,748,200 
963,600 
342,000 
,816,503 
,282,800 
083,200 

,645,535 
704,150 

959,477 
,254,256 
,5°3,9S° 
,156,600 
,216,300 

3°4,39° 
467,000 
,007,700 



98,372,581 



Price per 
1,000 feet. 



52.41 

I. OO 
I.20 

2.06 

i-57 
1.82 
2.07 
2 65 
2.50 
1.91 
3-94 

1-52 

1.91 
1.83 
2-55 
1-59 
2.03 

1-95 
1.88 
1.89 
1-53 
1-55 
1,69 

1.47 
1.S9 
2.24 
1.78 
2.00 



1-6457 



I 2,883.32 
1,669.39 

27,497-39 
10,989.99 
18,768.44 
3,526.58 
4,018.15 
1,411.13 
1,734.00 
3,271.64 

575-9 1 

11,743.03 

7,159.06 

1,799-99 

872.10 

6,068.24 

2,604.08 

13,812.24 
4,973-6i 
3,220.84 
1,468.00 

13,124-23 

5,921-73 
3,170.20 
6,078.81 
681.83 
S31.26 
2,015.40 



1161,890,59 



Showing that the 28 companies who replied to our letter of 
inquiry manufactured during the year ending June 30th, 1892, 
98,372,581 feet of gas which cannot be accounted for, and 
which, at their respective prices per 1,000 feet would amount to 
the sum of $161,890.59. The reader will bear in mind that these 
figures are taken from the report of the Board of Gas and 
Electric Light Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Another remarkable statement is that the 6$ gas com- 
panies have reported their unaccounted-for gas for the year 
ending June 30th, 1892, to be two hundred and one million two 
hundred and forty-one thousand one hundred and thirty-four 
feet (201,241,134 feet). The average price per 1,000 feet being 
$1.74^ makes the total loss to these 63 companies $351,165.78 



542 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



for the year. Now, if this great loss is caused mainly by leakage 
of the cast-iron pipe (see the 28 letters above mentioned), it is, 
of course, all right. What a source of pleasure and satisfaction 
it must be for the stockholders of the various companies to look 
upon this picture ! 

The following is copied from " Public Document No. 35," 
it being the Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Gas and 
Electric Light Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, of January, 1893, pages 36 and 37: 

Shortly after midnight on the morning of February 19th, 1892, the 
occupants of the tenement blocks adjoining each other at No. 112 East 
Canton Street and 1 Thorn Street were awakened from their sleep and 
noticed the odor of escaping illuminating gas. This led to an investigation 
and it was discovered that gas was present in large volume in the several 
tenements of the buildings. The various apartments were visited, and many 
of their occupants found to be suffering from inhaling the gas, some being 
unconscious. These were relieved by the prompt application of restoratives 
and medical treatment, and as far as known all finally recovered. 

The source of the escaping gas was found to be a break in the street 
main laid in Thorn Street, from which the gas went into the basement and 
thence throughout the buildings. 

This Public Document, or Report, is authentic, having been 
compiled by authority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 



SHARON GAS WORKS. 

In writing about his cast-iron pipe mains, the Secretary of 
the Sharon (Pa.) gas works reports great trouble. He writes : 

A number of our cast-iron mains this winter have parted by fracture 
from contraction by cold and the non-yielding character of cement joints. 

The writer had some experience this winter on this same 
subject. He was two weeks at his house without any gas. 
Finally, the workmen of the East End Gas Company, which 
company supplies his residence, found two large leaks under a 
culvert on Second Avenue, Pittsburgh. These leaks had been in 
the pipe probably for a long time. The escaping gas could not 
be noticed because it escaped in the culvert and was carried off 
in the air. The workmen informed the writer that they had been 
kept busy repairing leaks all winter, and that the gas company 
computed that the last cold snap had cost them the loss of over 
200,000 feet of gas. 

It must be borne in mind that cast-iron pipe is porous, and 



GAS LEAKAGE. 543 



as it commences to corrode, it frets away in the shape of scale 
and rust from the exterior, thus opening up numberless pores, 
through which the gas readily escapes. 

The older the cast-iron system the greater the leakage. 

We quote briefly from a lengthy and very interesting paper 
read by E. C. Jones, C. E., of Boston, at the October, 1889, Con- 
vention of the American Gas Light Association, on the subject 
of leakage : 

Within the gates of the modern gas works, the superintendent is actively 
engaged in developing new methods of reducing the cost of production, by 
increased regeneration in the furnaces, lengthening the life of purifying 
material and endeavoring to make the residual products pay for the coal 
carbonized, and each success in reducing the cost one-tenth of a cent a 
thousand feet is hailed with delight, while outside the gates a sum nearly 
equal to the value of all the fuel used in the works, and equal to four times 
the cost of purification, and nearly equal to the retort house labor, is going 
to waste. Is not the subject of leaking of vital importance and a rich field 
for the best efforts of the gas manager? 

To demonstrate that it does not receive the careful supervision given to 
other departments of our business, I will quote from King's Treatise : " Let 
us take the production of gas and the leakage or loss throughout the United 
Kingdom as it was twenty or twenty-five years ago and compare them with 
the production and unaccounted-for gas at the present time and we shall 
probably find an increase in the actual leakage over that of twenty -five years 
since, although the percentage of loss is considerably less." 

The same unwelcome condition of things probaby exists in the United 
States. 

The percentage of unaccounted-for gas of fifty-six companies in Massa- 
chusetts for the year ending June 30, 1887, was 12.53 P er cent., while for the 
year ending June 30, 1888, the average of fifty-eight companies was 13.17 
per cent. 

A glance at the following table will convince the most skeptical that the 
percentage of unaccounted-for gas of the companies of the State is increasing 
instead of diminishing : 

Towns with leakage under 5 per cent. ... .3 

" " " between 5 and 10 

10 " 15 
15 " 20 
20 " 25 
25 " 30 



30 



887. 


1 888 


3 


3 


23 


16 


17 


23 


6 


8 


3 


6 


2 


1 


2 


1 



In an era of close competition and small profits it seems a pity that one 
of the greatest industries of our country is not able to account for a loss in 
a single State of 13.17 per cent, of its product, amounting to over 276 mil- 
lions of cubic feet of gas, which at 11,000 feet per ton, would require over 
25,000 tons of coal for its production. 



544 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



In Massachusetts it is evident that the large and increasing leakage is 
due chiefly to small mains and the severity of the climate. 

In looking over the lengths and sizes of the mains it is noticeable that 
the percentage of unaccounted-for gas is inversely as the size of the pipe, 
other things being equal. To bring the fact clearly before you I have cal- 
culated the internal area of the mains of each company (i. e. the number of 
square feet of iron with which the gas comes in contact). The average main 
area of each company is 113,629 square feet, and the average area of each 
mile of pipe is 5,297 square feet. From this we find the average diameter of 
all mains in the State to be only 3 8-10 inches. 

It is a circumstance worthy of consideration that the greater the main 
area per mile the less the leakage. 

NO. COMPANIES. AREA PER MIEE OE MAIN. EEAKAGE. 

16 Under 4,500 square feet. 14.9 per cent. 

8 Between 4,500 and 5,000 sq, feet. 13.7 " 

8 " 5,000 " 5,500 " " 11. 8 " 

11 " 5,500 " 6,000 " " 10.4 " 

10 Over 6,000 square feet 10.0 " 

Another way to demonstrate that small cast-iron mains are one of the 
causes of large leakage would be to ask the members how many pair of 
clamps were used last winter to repair broken six, eight, ten and twelve -inch 
mains, and how many were used for the same purpose on three-inch mains. 
In fourteen years I have been called upon but twice to use six-inch clamps, 
and I have never had occasion to use larger sizes, while broken three-inch 
mains are of common occurrence. 

The structure of cast-iron is such that the small amount of metal in a 
pipe three inches in diameter or less will not withstand the underground 
forces of freezing and thawing. If the unequal expansion and contraction of 
soils of different degree of conductivity could be represented in pounds 
pressure, and the pipe considered as a beam for carrying the load, I think 
all mains of less than six inches diameter would be wrought iron. I have 
entirely given up the use of three-inch cast-iron pipe, and in streets where 
there is a prospect of a considerable consumption of gas, a six-inch main 
is laid. I have taken out connections (service pipes) within a week which 
had been in for seven or eight years, and I have not found any of them 
stopped, even with napthaline. I have had occasion to lay about 3,500 feet 
of new ten-inch pipe, and most of the service pipes on the three-inch pipe 
displaced were fitted with two street elbow r s ; I found them in excellent con- 
dition, and none of them started. 



NATURAL GAS. 545 



NATURAL GAS. 

Neither time nor space will permit of our submitting any- 
thing like a full report of the failures of cast-iron pipe and the 
successes of wrought-iron pipe, in conveying natural gas, both 
under high and low pressures. We have presented a great 
many positive facts, as well as considerable interesting informa- 
tion from natural gas experts, in preceding pages, and the data 
in this chapter will be of a more general character. 

The undesirability of cast-iron pipe for both artificial gas 
and water mains is more marked when its use is attempted for 
natural gas and its weaknesses are more clearly and readily de- 
monstrated. In addition to the many claims of superiority 
which we have proven for wrought iron pipe over cast-iron, we 
have now particular instances of positive danger to chronicle 
against the latter. The porous character of cast-iron and the 
density of wrought-iron, the weakness of cast-iron and the 
strength of wrought-iron are immediately proven by the use of 
the respective materials for natural gas purposes. The merits 
of wrought-iron pipe in general, and the Converse Patent Lock 
Joint in particular, have been forcibly impressed upon the pub- 
lic since the introduction of natural gas, and it has done much 
to more rapidly and firmly overcome past prejudices against 
wrought-iron pipe, increase the knowledge of its worth and 
hasten its universal adoption, especially for the conveyance of 
water and gases. A consideration of the facts which we sub- 
mit, based upon theory and practice, will, we think, furnish suf- 
ficient evidence in favor of wrought-iron pipe as the only 
proper conduit for natural gas. 

We will hereinafter give a detailed list of Converse Joint 
Pipe shipments, among which will be shown the vast quantities 
of this pipe — amounting to hundreds of miles — which we have 
furnished to natural gas companies. 

To give an idea of the magnitude of these shipments we 
will name the following at this point : 

Bridgewater Gas Company, over 215,000 feet. 

Chartiers Valley Natural Gas Company, . . " 165,000 " 
Shenango Natural Gas Company, " 160,000 " 



546 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Columbia Gas Light Company, o 

Philadelphia Company, 

Carnegie Natural Gas Company, 

Wheeling Natural Gas Company, 

National Transportation Company, , 

Westmoreland & Cambria Natural Gas Co. 

Southwest Natural Gas Company, 

Pine Run Gas Company, 

Northside Gas Company, .... 

Pennsylvania Gas Company, 

Southeast Natural Gas Company, 

Manufacturers' Natural Gas Company, .... 



ver 155,000 feet. 

139,000 

134,000 

114,000 

79,000 

58,000 

53> 000 
42,000 
29,000 
22,000 
21,000 
20,000 



In the matter of minimum friction the results attained by 
Converse Joint pipe have been most satisfactory. While it is 
true, on general principles, that the larger the pipe the better 
the natural gas service, there is, of course, a point beyond which 
size and consequently increased price, is an additional and 
unnecessary expense. 

As the Converse Joint produces an absolutely smooth interior, 
reducing friction to a minimum, the increased flow and delivery 
of gas will be readily appreciated. By referring to Prof. John 
C. Trautwine's opinion on " Flow " you will notice he uses the 
following language in reference to cast-iron pipe : " * * * 
moreover, the pipes themselves are not cast perfectly straight, 
or smooth, or of uniform diameter and irregular swellings pro- 
duce eddies and retard the flow ; accumulations of air do the 
same. Under the most favorable circumstances, therefore, it is 
expedient to make the diameters of cast-iron pipe even for 
temporary purposes, sufficient to discharge at least 20 per cent, 
more than the quantity actually wanted. * * * and still 
larger allowance should be made in permanent pipes." This 
celebrated authority therefore recommends an allowance of 20 
per cent, over normal capacity, for a temporary line only, and 
recommends a still greater allowance for permanent lines. 
Natural and manufactured gas mains are usually for permanent 
lines. 

Then bear in mind the opinion given by Prof. Haswell, 
quoted elsewhere in full, that "the difference in friction between 
a line of ordinary spigot and faucet jointed cast-iron pipe and a 
line of seamless wrought-iron pipe with flush connection alike 
to the Converse Joint, would be fully 25 per cent, to 35 per cent." 
This startling statement can be easily verified. In the first place, 



NATURAL GAS. 547 



the surface of cast-iron pipe is not absolutely smooth ; it is 
rough. Again, comes the " V-shaped " depression at every joint 
—every 12 feet. Cast-iron pipes are rougher inside than out, as 
the inside is made from a rough dry core, while the outside is made 
from a carefully prepared mould. The mechanical construction 
of the Converse Joint shows that the friction on our pipe 
is at its minimum. To give an ocular demonstration of this 
fact, draw a sectional view of a Converse Joint, which is practi- 
cally a straight line ; then draw a sectional view of a cast-iron 
joint and you will find a " V-shaped " depression which will cre- 
ate an eddy equal to double its depth and materially lessen the 
flow. 

There is not the least question, in considering the two classes 
of pipe — Converse Joint and cast-iron — that the former will de- 
liver just as much more gas than the latter as is the difference 
in friction. 

Then consider the very important matter of leakage and 
also that of capacity in pressure. It is a fact that cast-iron pipe 
cannot be safely operated on any pressure over 150 lbs., while 
the pressure we can put on our pipe is limited only by the rock 
pressure of territory. A large percentage of cast-iron pipe 
joints will leak. The testimonv produced before the Mayor in 
New York City, when the investigation was made of the numer- 
ous explosions, both at the Fifth Avenue Hotel and down-town, 
elicited the sworn statements that there was not a gas company 
in the City of New York employing cast-iron mains, which had 
a leakage of less than twelve per cert. Imagine the danger 
therefore, especially with natural gas, to say nothing of loss of 
capacity. We quote from Judge Ewing's official opinion from 
the Bench, in Pittsburgh, after several disastrous accidents result- 
ing from the use of some cast-iron mains : 

So far as I am concerned no pressure is low enough for me in the use 
of cast-iron mains and for my part I insist upon the use of wrought-iron 
pipe. 

The Philadelphia Company were involved in very serious 
trouble a short time ago because of a fire in a coal mine back of 
Wilkinsburg, Pa. Upon investigation a crack was found in one 
of the cast-iron mains, which measured about 18 inches long and 
three-eighths of an inch wide ; the escaping gas entered the coal 
mine and ignited ; the crack was probably there when the pipe 
was laid, but did not show under the air test ; it developed, how- 
ever, with this serious result, and it can be said without fear of 



548 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



contradiction that with the use of cast-iron pipe you are never 
safe. 

The Insurance Association of Allegheny County, Pennsyl- 
vania, being so largely interested in the adoption of natural gas 
with the utmost safety, made thorough examination into the 
methods to be employed in its transportation. They accordingly 
issued an official notification, under the title of " Memorandum 
of Conditions for the Introduction and use of Natural Gas," 
article 4th of which reads : 

The character of all pipes to be first quality, standard wrought-iron, 
with perfect threads and fittings ; and in screwing pipes together, care must 
be taken to see that they butt. 

The official document was dated Pittsburgh, Pa., Angust 
iSth, 1884, and signed by J. B. McFadden, Secretary. 

We will first give some of the many favorable records we 
have of the superiority of our Converse Joint wrought-iron and 
Steel Pipe in use for natural gas and follow them by reference 
to a few of the cases where loss of life and property attended 
the use of cast-iron gas mains. 



ALLEGHENY HEATING COMPANY. 

ALLEGHENY, Pa., Jan. 20th, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have pleasure in stating that the twelve thousand feet this company 
has laid of your 16-inch wrought-iron Converse Lock Joint Pipe for conduct- 
ing natural gas under high pressure has given entire satisfaction. 
(Signed) John Young, 

Supt. Allegheny Heating Company. 



SOUTH-EASTERN NATURAL GAS COMPANY. 

Cambridge, Ohio, Sept. 15th, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have this day made certificate of acceptance for entire Cambridge 
plant, built by your National Tube Works Company. 

I can cheerfully say that it is the most complete, yet simple working 
gas distributing plant I have ever seen. 

We are now using the gas in Cambridge, and can readily observe how 
essential it is to have combined the very best pipe, fittings, etc., with good 
construction. I am well pleased with the plant in every particular, and do 



NATURAL GAS. 549 



not hesitate to say that it has no superior in any respect, the construction 
guaranteeing easy supply to a city of 20,000 inhabitants. 

At an early date I hope to confer with you, with a view to building a 
line to Zanesville. 

(Signed) WiXXlAM M. Carr, 

Manager The South-Eastern Natural Gas Company. 



McKeesport, Pa., June 20th, 1895. 
J. W. Downer, Jr., National Tube Works Co., New York. 

I enclose you a letter from Mr. Bishop, which makes an interesti no- 
record of the longevity and good condition of wrought-iron. 

(Signed) E. C. Converse, Vice-Pres. and Gen'l Mgr. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., June 19th, 1895. 
E. C. Converse, V. P. & G. M., McKeesport, Pa. 

It may be interesting to you to know that the pipe we furnished for the 
gas plant at Cambridge, O. ( 12" Converse joint and 8" and 6 // screw joint). 
about 7 years ago, and laid by Mr. Galvin, has been taken up, and turns out 
" as good as new ; " the party who bought the pipe says he would not give 
2 cents a foot to have new pipe. 

(Signed) H. W. Bishop, Local Manager. 



CHARTIERS VALLEY; GAS CO. 

In presenting the following letters from the engineers who 
have been engaged on the lines of the Chartiers Valley Gas Co., 
we also give some views, reproductions of photographs, taken 
along the main line of 20-inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 

Your attention will be attracted by the rugged character of 
the topography, and the facility with which the pipe adapts itself 
to the varying conditions without the use of expensive special 
fittings. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 16th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

According to promise I herewith send you a report of test of our 10-inch 
Converse Joint pipe laid on a branch line towards McKee's Rocks. 

We tested one section over a half mile in length with fifty -seven pounds 
gas pressure, equal to (4) four times that pressure by hydraulic or steam. 
There was only one leak in the joints, and some two or three sand-holes in 
the castings ; these were so small that the gas issuing therefrom would not 
ignite when a lighted match was presented to it. 

I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that it is by all odds the best 
joint put on the market up to the present time, and from my experience 
with cast-iron pipes at very low pressures, and the difficulty experienced in 



NATURAL GAS. 551 



making tight joints, and getting tight pipes at even low pressures, that 
wrought-iron lap-welded pipes are the only proper and safe pipes for the 
conveyance of natural gas. 

(Signed) Thos, J. Bray, 

Supt. The Chartiers Valley Gas Company. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., June 3d, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I send you herewith a profile of our main line of pipe extending from 
the city line above Thirty-fourth Street on the South Side, to Murrysville, 
a distance of seventeen miles. 

This line is sixteen inches in diameter and is fitted with the Converse 
Patent Lock Joint. 

The land over which this line is laid is, as you will see, very broken 
and is I believe the roughest piece of ground a pipe line for the conveyance 
of natural gas was ever laid over. A great many of our curves were made by 
deflecting short pieces of the straight pipe at the joints ; others were made 
by means of special elbows from ten degrees to thirty degrees of curvature. 

The pipe is all laid five and one-half feet deep. 

The greatest pressure we have put on the line was 243 pounds. The 
pressure at present carried is about 120 pounds and the maximum we expect 
to carry will be from 200 to 210 pounds. 

(Signed) Wilxiam J. Hartupee, 

Manager The Chartiers Valley Gas Company. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 15th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Mr. Gormly will commence to lay our ten-inch line to McKee's Rocks 
to-morrow. I am interested in the success of the Converse Joint, and want 
to make it a decided success. I consider it the only joint as yet invented to 
meet the demands of natural gas. 

(Signed) Thos. Bray, 

Supt. Chartiers Valley Gas Co. 



MunroeviIvI^e, Pa., June 19th, 1887. 
National Tube }] r orks Co. 

It may be of interest to your Company to learn of some splendid work 
accomplished by a section of your Converse Patent Pock Joint Pipe under 
the most severe and trying circumstances. The facts are as follows : 

Our Company (the Chartiers Valley Gas Company) have a 16-inch trunk 
line (among others of various sizes) of your Converse Patent Pock Joint 
Pipe, which runs from the Murrysville district to the South Side, Pitts- 
burgh, carrying natural gas under high pressures. 

During the heavy rains we had in March, a big slide occurred above 
our pipe line, between Homestead and Pittsburgh, forcing the line com- 
pletely out of its bed and moving the pipe and one of the 16-inch Converse 
hubs at least 20 inches out of line on a deflection, causing only a very slight 




Chartiers Valley Gas Co.— View of Cut Averaging 20 Feet at Negley's Run 20-Inch 

converse joint pipe 



NATURAL GAS. 553 



leak, and permitting us to still carry a pressure of 90 pounds per square inch 
on the line during the balance of the week, after which time we straight- 
ened up the landslide and brought the pipe back to its original position. 

Together with other practical engineers I am and have been very en- 
thusiastic over the advantages of Converse Lock Joint Pipe over all others, 
for ease and rapidity in laying, strength of material, durability, minimum 
friction, and tightness of joint. I have, as you know, had long experience 
in laying all kinds and classes of pipe, but prefer Converse Joint pipe to 
them all. 

I fully agree with the opinion expressed by our best gas experts that 
the Converse Lock Joint is the best joint ever invented for the conveyance 
of natural gas. For natural gas it is the pipe, and when a pipe and joint is 
a perfect natural gas carrier, it is of course the best for water, artificial gas, 
oil, etc. The deflection the joints are capable of saves time and money. 

I thought the splendid work this 16-inch pipe accomplished in this case 
would be of interest to you, as it exceeds anything, by long odds, that I 
have ever known any other pipe to do, and, based upon my long experience 
with all classes of pipe, I can state positively that cast-iron pipe under the 
same circumstances would have torn apart and caused us thousands of dol- 
lars of damage — not that cast-iron ever would be used in this or any other 
line requiring great strength either in the body of the pipe or at the joint, 
for no sensible man or skillful engineer would accept such material for such 
purposes at any price — in fact no lead joint in connection with either cast or 
wrought-iron pipe unless it embodied your patent lock, which is one of the 
strong features of the Converse device, would have stood this strain fifteen 
minutes. 

The locking device and general construction of the Converse Joint per- 
formed all that has ever been claimed for it ; it kept the pipe from pulling 
apart, and at the same time yielded enough to let the pipe find its easiest 
bearing under sudden strain, thus preventing a disaster, without for one mo- 
ment stopping the gas supply. 

It has been argued by a few persons that the lock is unnecessary. To 
be sure it is often unnecessary in straight lines where there is not the least 
danger of washouts, or upheavals by frost, or depression by settlings, but 
here is a case where its use saved our Company and its customers thousands 
of dollars, and we appreciate it. 

(Signed) T. h. Garvin. 

Supt. Murrysville Div., Chartiers Valley Gas Company. 

P. S. — I am now busily engaged superintending the laying of our new 
lines of 16-inch and 20-inch Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe, which we 
recently purchased from your Company. We have every reason to believe 
that they will be the best natural gas trunk line in this district. 

(vSigned) T. L. G. 



Braddock, Pa., Aug. 2d, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We tested two more miles of the Chartiers Valley Gas Company's 16- 
inch line to-day. We put the pressure up to 300 pounds to the square inch. 
After getting the pressure up, Mr. Hartupee, General Manager, Mr. Tate, 




CHARTIERS VALLEY GAS CO.~V.EW OF 34 FEET CUT AT NEGLEY'S P.UN-20-lNCH 

Converse Joint Pipe. 



NATURAL GAS. 555 



General Superintendent, Mr. Galvin, Superintendent of the Murrysville 
Division, and Mr. Patrick Foley, the contractor, and myself walked over 
and inspected the line carefully, and all pronounced it the best piece of 
work they had ever seen. 

We have commenced laying the 20-inch ; it looks splendid in the ditch, 
and it has all the appearance of making a first-class job. 

(Signed) GEORGE N. RlEEY, 

Inspecting Engineer. 



Pittsburgh, West End, Pa., October 10th, 1887. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It gives me great pleasure to voluntarily add ;my testimony to that of 
other contracting engineers in the matter of your Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Pipe, especially for natural gas uses. 

I recently completed the laying of ten (10) miles of your Converse 
Patent Lock Joint pipe in the Murrysville district for the Chartiers Valley 
Gas Company. 

The final tests (five) of two mile sections, proved the excellence of the 
pipe and joint ; it cost me comparatively nothing for re-calking joints 
(which had been hurried by careless workmen), and the line showed not 
the slightest leak under the very severe pressures put upon it. The great 
advantages this pipe possesses for conveying natural gas, also places it above 
all others for manufactured gas, water, etc. 

The construction of the Converse hub is simple and effective ; it can be 
laid more rapidly, makes a tighter and more flexible joint, and by reason of 
the flush inside surfaces cannot but deliver more gas, comparatively, by 
reason of the decreased friction. 

I notice you have splendid records around this natural gas territory with 
this pipe. I took advantage of the deflection this joint is capable of in 
many cases, and also used short lengths to great advantage. Of course, we 
all know that cast-iron pipe is out of the question for conveying natural gas, 
by reason of its porous and brittle nature. 

If the few ill-advised lines of cast-iron pipe had not been laid when 
Pittsburgh first commenced to use natural gas, much loss of life and property 
would have been avoided, as you know. 

Please excuse the length of these remarks, but I am so much pleased 
with your Converse Patent Lock Joint pipe, w T ith its strong fibrous iron, 
smooth surfaces, lead spaces, locking spaces, etc., etc., that I feel like thus 
expressing myself. 

(Signed) Patrick FoeEY, General Contractor. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 22nd, 1S89. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Answering your favor of the 18th inst., I can only recount my experi- 
ence as manager of the Chartiers Valley Gas Co., of Pittsburgh, where we 
laid some twenty-five miles of wrought-iron pipe for natural gas ; sizes, 
twelve-inch, sixteen-inch and twenty-inch, and for all of which the Converse 
Joint was selected, on account of the general security of the joint and the 









'-.:..'•"" V " > 



NATURAL GAS. 557 



cheapness with which it could be successfully laid. We also used in our 
system some fifty miles of wrought-iron screw-joint pipe. 

On the question of durability, if properly painted, I should not hesitate 
to adopt wrought-iron in place of cast-iron, and would decidedly prefer it as 
largely reducing friction and leakage, which are of great importance in gas 
business calculations. 

In addition to this, we avoid by wrought iron the danger of cracking by 
means of extreme contraction, and by uneven settling or cutting away of 
line and trench by washouts or springs. 

I shall be pleased to give you any detailed particulars you may desire, 
covering my favorable experience with your pipe. 

(Signed) R. B. Tate, 

Contracting Engineer. 



MANUFACTURERS' GAS COMPANY. 

The Intelligencer, Wheeling, W. Va., in its issue of Tuesday 
morning, Aug. 31, 1886, states under the head line : 

HEAVEN AFLAME. 
The following telegram was received last evening : 

McKeesport, Pa., Aug. 30th, 1SS6. 
Manufacturers' Gas Company, Wheeling. 

We extremely regret the inability of our executive officers to be present this evening 
to participate in the celebration of the introduction of natural gas into the city of Wheel- 
ing. We congratulate the citizens of Wheeling at large, and, more particularly, the 
manufacturers, on the advent of the fuel of to-day. The plate iron composing the pipe 
we furnished you for gas mains, was all heated by natural gas, and the pipe will in turn, 
conduct the gas to Wheeling's furnaces and firesides. We wish success to all concerned. 
(Signed) E. C. Converse, 

National Tube Works Co. 

The first car of pipe for the main line from the station at Ebbert's farm, 
which will be known as Station A — for the officers of the company modestly 
discountenance any effort to fasten their personality on the country by 
adopting such names as " Flinn City," " Gillespieville " or "Williams- 
port " — was shipped on May 21. From that date until August 18, when the 
last was shipped, there was received over 300 car loads of pipe. Credit for 
the wonderful rapidity with which this pipe was made and shipped along 
the line is due to the National Tube Works Company, of McKeesport, who 
made all the pipe used in the main line, tested it to 750 pounds to the 
square inch, and not a length had to be rejected after it was in the trench. 
Of the line itself, it may be said that the first ten miles of it is ten-inch 
screw and socket joint, and the balance of the line, twenty-three miles in 
length, is known as the Converse Eock Joint pipe, so named for the genial 
assistant manager of the Tube Works, under whose patent the joint is 
manufactured. 



ffc'? 



■ : - 







Bird's-eye View of Main line of chartiers Valley Gas Co., negley's Run— 20-Inch 

Converse Joint Pipe. 



NATURAL GAS. 559 



MONOKGAHELA NATURAL GAS COMPANY. 
MONONGAHELA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 23d, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

As per request, we advise you that our experience has been that the 
Converse Joint pipe of the National Tube Works Company is the best pipe 
that is made for natural gas purposes ; in fact, for any other work where 
a good tight joint and strong pipe is required. 

We have about nineteen miles of sixteen-inch, and three miles of 
twenty-inch in use, in which the pressure varies from twenty to two hun- 
dred pounds. 

In this whole line I don't believe there is a single leak. We had it all 
tested before it was covered in, at 200 pounds pressure, and there was not a 
leak in the entire line. 

We recommend it as an article which will give good results in gas, 
water, etc. , where high and steady pressure is required. 

Monongaheu Natural Gas Company, ) 
Monongaheu Construction Company, f 
(Signed) James B. Oliver, President. 



NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY. 

National Tube Works Co. 

In testing the N. T. W. Co.'s eight-inch gas line just completed, we find 
the one and one-half miles of Lock Joint pipe stood the test splendidly. 
There were about three leaks in this entire mile and a half, and none of 
these amounted to anything. 

This pipe can be laid much cheaper than screw joint pipe, and, in my 
opinion, it is not so likely to leak. It is worthy of notice that this mile and 
a half of your Lock Joint pipe, which forms a part of the main line, is all 
laid in a very rough part of the country, with some very short bends and 
curves. 

We did not have one important leak on the whole line from the well to 
the mill ; the leaks that did occur were very slight, and it would have been 
perfectly safe to have covered up the pipe without any test. I am now 
carrying 125 pounds of gas at the well, which gives us a pressure of 60 
pounds at the mill, except when the works are all on full ; the consumption 
runs the pressure down to 40 pounds at the mill. 

The exact length of the line from the well to the mill is 47,734 feet. 
(Signed) GEORGE N. RiLEY, 

Engineer in Charge. 



OIL CITY FUEL SUPPLY COMPANY. 

Oil, City, Pa., May 9th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

You have asked me several times as to the satisfaction the Converse 
Lock Joint Kalamein pipe gave to our company, and I have as often replied 
to you, in general terms, that it gave good satisfaction. 



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NATURAL GAS. 561 



The conditions of the market under which the line of ten-inch pipe was 
purchased were such as to effect this company a very great saving. 

Our pipe system throughout the city has now been down for about 
eighteen months, and we have had ample opportunity to judge of the merits 
of the pipe and the joint. 

Regarding this pipe system, which is composed of seventeen miles of 
Converse Tock Joint Kalamein pipe, ranging in size from four-inch to ten- 
inch, several hundreds of ells, tees, angle-bends, and other special fittings, 
together with nearly two thousand service connections, made by means of 
the National Service Clamps and Tapping Machine, I would state that for 
ease in handling and facility in connections, together with a security of 
joint, this class of pipe appears to meet a long felt want. 

We consider the joint, practically speaking, a perfect gas joint, and, 
when you consider the character of natural gas, you will be convinced how 
perfect the pipe and joint must have been to be perfectly tight and secure 
in so large a system as the one we control. 

Regarding the last line of six miles of ten-inch pipe, which we are using 
for a high pressure line, conducting gas from the accumulation of sixteen 
large gas wells to the city of Oil City, we can heartily recommend its use 
for similar purposes. If you will enquire from the various natural gas 
companies throughout Western Pennsylvania as to the trouble they have 
with many of the makes of screw joint goods, constant breaks in high pre- 
sure lines, you will appreciate the facts, which not only permit of me, but 
give me pleasure, in thus voluntarily expressing to you the gratification of 
our company and stockholders at having adopted this style of pipe for our 
high pressure mains. 

We consider this ten-inch line one of the best'high pressure gas trunk 
lines now in use, and consider it practically perfect. It was tested and 
found tight at one hundred pounds natural gas accumulative pressure, and 
it is now working perfectly under a regular working pressure of sixty 
pounds. 

(Signed) Oil City Fuel Supply Co., 

E. Strong, President. 



PHILADELPHIA COMPANY". 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 21st, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In relation to question asked me some days ago, viz. : Points of differ- 
ence between 16-inch with Converse Patent Hubs and 10-inch with Screw 
Joints, would say : The 16-inch line between Gilmore and Telford has been 
in daily use for some time, and is the best line the Philadelphia Company 
has. As to the lead joints and pipe, they are gas proof. 

The io-inch line (not furnished by your Company), laid by the Com- 
pany, from Telford to Sandy Creek, is screw joints, and while it was not 
under my charge yet have seen so much of it to be satisfied that were it put 
to the same test the 16-inch Converse Joint has been subjected to, — a dead 
pressure test, — it would lose in one hour 60 per cent. I do not lay this to 
defective material but to the following reasons : The Screw Joints, in the 



562 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



first place, are badly strained while pipes are being placed in ditch ; then 
again, poor calking ; lastly, there is no allowance made for expansion or 
contraction. 

As to the Converse Patent hub on the 1 6-inch pipe, a poor workman 
can hardly make a bad job calking them, and the allowance for expansion 
and contraction absolutely prevent all danger from leakage in joints. I 
also know that in case the pipe should settle the Converse Hub will not 
leak, if it has been properly run ; the screw joint will, no matter how well 
calked in joint when laid. In the line between Telford and Niblocks, I have 
made one change, i. e., placing your patent sleeves on top of hills and in 
ravines, butting pipe closely together on summits and allowing three inches 
space in ravines between ends of pipe ; while the pipe may never creep 
down hill, yet it can do no harm ; then again, if pipes are properly tamped, 
the projecting faces of hubs afford a brace to prevent creeping, making the 
Converse Hub especially valuable over screw joints in rough country. 

One 16-inch Converse Joint line laid will, in cost of repairs, not cost 
one-hundredth part of the sum of two io-inch lines in one year. 
(Signed) Jno. R. BiTNER, 

Engineer in charge 16-iuch Line, Philadelphia Co. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 25th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of the 23rd inst. received. We have completed the sixteen- 
inch Converse Joint line, and now have the gas passing through it. We 
tested the line to three hundred pounds pressure and found it first-class in 
every respect. We laid it with great care and feel that we have a good piece 
of work. 

On some bright and beautiful cold morning, with the thermometer 
ranging from ten to twenty degrees below zero, I will give it a test and 
advise you of the result. At present the line is doing but little, as we 
haven't much use for it and are holding it in reserve. 

(Signed) T. A. Gillespie, 

Gen. Supt. Philadelphia Company. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 22nd, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have used, perhaps, seventy-five miles of the Converse Joint pipe, 
made by the National Tube Works Co., of McKeesport, Pa., and have found 
it first-class pipe in every respect. The joint is a good one — very simple, and 
easily put together, and after the line is connected, the pipe is tight under a 
pressure of 250 pounds to the square inch. We do not carry this pressure, 
however, on our line in actual use, but test it up this high. 

We have just taken up considerable of this pipe from a field abandoned, 
and re-laid it in a new field, and find it is just as good as the day we put it 
down and as easily put together. 

In short, we take pleasure in saying the Converse pipe is all it is claimed 
for it by the makers. 

(Signed) T. A. GiLLESPiE, 

Gen. Supt. Philadelphia Company. 



NATURAL GAS. 563 



PITTSBURGH NATURAL, GAS COMPANY - . 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 27th, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It is a pleasure to report that the Pittsburgh Natural Gas Company's 
lines are highly satisfactory and good to refer to. 

The line stood the gas test for twenty-four hours, the gauge running 
down one-half pound. 

This is the Parke Bros. & Co. twelve-inch and sixteen-inch Converse 
Joint line. 

(Signed) H. W. Bishop. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 22nd, 1889. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reply to your inquiry as to our experience with your twelve-inch 
Converse Joint pipe, would say, since we laid our line with it, one year ago, 
we have put into it the full pressure of our wells. The pipe has withstood 
the pressure without a single instance of failure, while the joints appear to 
be perfectly tight. 

Most of the gas lines running near ours have caused, by leakage, con- 
siderable damage to the farms through which they pass, but the surface of 
the country through which ours runs is uninjured, and there is no evi- 
dence whatever of leakage. We are well pleased with your pipe in every 
respect. 

(Signed) The Pittsburgh Natural Gas Co., 

W. G. Park, President. 



SHENANGO NATURAL GAS COMPANY. 

New Castle, Pa., Oct. 2nd, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have to-day made a test of about two miles of our ten-inch line to a 
pressure of 175 pounds. We have found it very satisfactory indeed ; we 
believe only one leak in the calking, three in welds and two or three 
from sand holes in the hubs. These leaks are all very trifling. 

We consider we have a very tight little gas line, and if the ditchers will 
keep out of our way we will put it down in a very short time. 

(Signed) H. E. Picket, 

Manager Shenango Natural Gas Company. 



New Castle, Pa., Oct. 20th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I send you by express a map and profile of a short section of our ten- 
inch line, covering a rather difficult piece of ground at the crossing of a 
large stream. The line at this point, as you will see, declines pretty rapidly 
in quite a short distance, to get under the creek and then raises again to 
about the same elevation, and at the same time there is quite a lateral curve 



564 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



or angle to be made on the down slope, as shown by the map under the 
profile. 

These curves were all made with the straight pipe, using short pieces in 
the shortest curves, and I thought it might be interesting and perhaps 
profitable to you to see just what had been done with the pipe in a difficult 
place. These joints have all proven tight upon test of 200 pounds to the 
square inch. You are at liberty to make such use of the map and profile as 
you may see fit, but I will feel obliged if you will kindly return it to me 
when you have finished with it. 

(Signed) II. E. Picket, 

Manager Shenango Natural Gas Company. 



New CasteE, Pa., Nov. 12th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We tested to-day, four thousand feet of ten-inch pipe ; found all per- 
fectly tight ; did not have to put a tool on one of the joints and there was 
not one defective weld or pin-hole in the pipe. 

We also laid 125 joints of ten-inch pipe in eight hours to-day. 
We could finish the entire line in ten good working days if the pipe was 
on the ground. 

(Signed ) GEORGE N. RiEEY, 

Inspecting Engineer. 

New CasteE, Pa, Sept. 28th, 1S86. 
National Tube Works Co. 

This company has in use in its main gas line from Butler county to this 
city, eight miles of eight-inch and twelve miles of ten-inch O. D. Converse 
Patent Lock Joint wrought-iron pipe furnished by the National Tube Works 
Company. 

This line has now been in use over nine months, supplying gas to our 
customers in this city. 

It has stood the test of the various seasons, including the settling of the 
ground in the spring, admirably, and is at this time in first class condition 
and performing its functions in a way that is entirely satisfactory to us ; in 
fact, our leakage is at the very minimum and we feel satisfied that our loss 
by friction is very low on account of the light resistance offered to the flow 
of gas by the smooth and regular interior surface of the pipe. 

The pipe is laid in a trench four and a half feet deep, so that the 
changes of temperature have affected it but little and the work and expense 
of repairs have been almost nominal. 

All things considered, I do not know of a better gas line than this in 
the State. 

(Signed) H. E. Picket, Manager. 

Shenango Natural Gas Company. 



New CasTeE, Pa., Dec. 27th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We connected our new line, consisting of twelve miles of Converse 

pipe and five miles of screw pipe on the evening of the 25th inst., and 



NATURAL GAS. 565 



immediately commenced to carry gas through the same and found it to be 
in good working condition from the very start. 

We laid the first of the Converse pipe Nov. 22nd, so that you see we 
were less than thirty days (excluding time stopped by storm) in laying the 
twelve miles. Our record, of over 100 joints per day to a gang, average 107, 
in, 152, 156, 167 and 185. This is all laid in a four and one-half foot trench; 
the pipe thoroughly tamped and filled on centres and calked. 

I pass this in for the " boss " record and when it is beaten I will try 
again. 

(Signed) H. E. Picket, 

Manager Shenango Natural Gas Company. 



WESTMORELAND AND CAMBRIA NATURAL GAS CO. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 27th, 1S86. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have been in the oil and natural gas business for the past twenty years, 
and in that time handled hundreds of miles of pipe made by different manu- 
facturers. The pipe you furnished for the Westmoreland and Cambria 
Natural Gas Co. , twelve and sixteen-inch pipe fitted with the Converse Lock 
Joint, which I superintended the laying of personally, I consider and know 
it to be the best pipe and joint ever made for natural gas mains, and would 
advise the use of it above any other pipe made to-day for natural gas mains. 
(Signed) Jno. H. Gaeey, 

Gen. Supt. Westmoreland and Cambria Natural Gas Co. 



WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS COMPANY. 

Wheeling, W. Va., Aug. 30th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

One gang of pipe layers on the West Virginia Natural Gas Co. 's line 

laid seventy-five pieces of twelve-inch Converse Joint pipe last Saturday in 

seven hours. 

The Wheeling Natural Gas Company while testing with gas last week 

had but one leak in seven miles twelve-inch Converse Joint pipe. 

(Signed) George N. Riley, 

Inspecting Engineer. 



WHEELING NATURAL GAS COMPANY. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. nth, 18S6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We take pleasure in informing you that we have finished our line to 
Wheeling. We desire to say that the twelve miles of ten-inch pipe and 
twenty-two miles of twelve-inch pipe (Converse Patent Lock Joint), fur- 
nished by you, has given us entire satisfaction, particularly the twelve-inch 
pipe. We first tested the twelve-inch pipe and calked it up to one hundred 
pounds gas pressure ; after leaving the gas at this pressure for twenty-four 



566 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



hours, we then increased the pressure to 150 pounds, when we found but 
oue defective pipe. We left the gas entirely out of the line and replaced 
this pipe ; we then put on 250 pounds of gas pressure and examined the 
joints for a distance of ten miles ; the joints for that distance being uncov- 
ered, we were expecting to find at least a dozen defective pipes and as many 
defective joints, but were agreeably surprised to find that the entire line, 
pipe and joints, stood the severe test first-class. We tested the ten-inch up 
to 360 pounds gas pressure, and did not find a single defective pipe. I feel 
that the only mistake we made was that we did not use more twelve-inch 
pipe and less ten inch pipe, which would have very materially increased the 
quantity of gas delivered to us. We think it remarkable that of the 
thirty-four miles of Converse Patent Lock Joint pipe delivered us from your 
works that we only found one defective pipe in the entire line. 

(Signed) Wm. Feynn, 

President, The Wheeling Natural Gas Company. 



Wrought and Cast-Iron Pipes. 

Mr. Callahan, who is in the city representing a Louisville firm in their 
contract with the City of Pittsburgh for a quantity of cast-iron pipe, was 
interviewed yesterday afternoon by a representative of this paper, for points 
on the relative value of wrought-iron and cast-iron pipes for use in gas and 
water mains. He was, of course, enthusiastic in his praises for cast-iron 
pipe. As to its use for natural gas, he said that the firm he represented has 
furnished Wellsville, O., with cast-iron pipes for natural gas mains, and 
that they had proven very satisfactory. The other side of the story was 
obtained from an old oil operator, and one who has tried every kind of 
pipe in the market for both oil and gas pipe lines. He said : "Cast-iron 
may be cheaper, but it won't answer the purpose. Wrought-iron will ex- 
pand and contract. There are always put in the line, small bends, so that 
expansion will not strain the pipes. Now, cast-iron will break. For gas it 
would not hold the fluid, and natural gas would require a pipe of iron or 
steel, something with the pores as fine, at least, as to keep down leakage." — 
From the Pittsburgh Dispatch, December 2j, 1884. 



The following appeared in the editorial columns of the 
Pittsburgh Sunday Dispatch, December 28, 1884 : 

Cast-iron pipes for natural gas mains are about as useful as they would 
be for railroad tracks. 



The Danger and Inefficiency oe Cast-Iron Mains. 

At noon yesterday while testing the cast-iron main from the Kittauing 
well the pipe burst in two places, in front of the residence of Oscar Porter. 
The pressure at the time was only 80 pounds. The pipe was a twelve-inch 
cast-iron main, supposed to be one-half inch thick. — Pittsburgh Leader, 
December 15, 1884. 



NATURAL GAS. 567 



Cast-Iron for Gas Mains. 
A well-known attorney who has given the question of natural gas con_ 
siderable thought, holds that the idea that it is so much more dangerous 
under a high pressure than a low pressure, is a mistaken one. When spoken 
to this morning, the gentleman first reached for a Leader and read from the 
telegraphic columns an account of the explosion at a house where the gas 
main was laid over forty feet distant. "There," said he, " is a case where 
the gas travelled through whatever there was of porous rock or earth until 
it finally reached the cellar of the house destroyed. " After explaining that 
he was not an expert, and for that reason did not wish to be quoted, he 
said : "The nature of the gas is such that it will penetrate cast-iron metal 
pipes, if conducted through them, and hence can only be carried safely in 
the less porous wrought-iron tube." Concerning the possibility of safely 
piping the gas, he expressed the belief that all that was necessary is to use 
wrought-iron pipe and make perfectly tight joints. — Pittsburgh Leader, 
December 26, iSSj. 



Cast-Iron Pipe; Won't Carry Natural Gas. 
It would seem that the attempt of the Westinghouse Company to use 
cast-iron pipe for natural gas mains is likely to prove a costly experiment 
to either the gas company or the firm that furnished the pipe. Many hun- 
dreds of tons of twelve-inch pipe were cast by a Philadelphia firm and for- 
warded, a large force of men was at once employed to lay the mains, and it 
was only after an extensive portion of the mains was laid that a test of 52 
pounds pressure showed that the experiment was a failure. The person 
giving this information stated that the gas at the pressure named burst the 
cast-iron pipe as though they were smoke pipe-stems. Just who is to pay 
for this costly experiment is not known. — Pittsburgh Leader, December 27, 
1884. 



OIL CITY FUEL SUPPLY COMPANY. 

Among the first extensive Converse Patent Lock Joint 
natural gas lines was that furnished to the Oil City Fuel Supply 
Company for its system at Oil City and South Oil City, Pa. 
We supplied them with over 79,443 feet of this pipe during 
the fall of 1883 and spring of 18S4. In 1883 they purchased 
sizes ranging from 4 inches to 8 inches, inclusive, in diameter, 
and during the spring of 1884 31,680 feet of 10-inch for their 
high pressure main, by reason of the perfect satisfaction given 
by the smaller sizes. The company carefully considered the 
purchase of cast-iron pipe, and, although they could have pur- 
chased such pipe very cheaply at the time, they decided that its 
use for natural gas was dangerous and " out of the question." 
Upon the completion of the Converse Lock Joint pipe system 
the company's seventeen wells were turned in and the line 



568 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



found perfectly tight at ioo pounds pressure. The flattering 
testimonial from the President of the Oil City Fuel Supply 
Company, which appears on page 104, is sufficient proof of the 
entire satisfaction the line has since given. 

The success of this complete system became noised around 
and attracted the attention of all those engaged in the natural 
gas business. When the papers last winter were finding fault 
with the pipe lines of the Pittsburgh companies the Pittsburgh 
Leader sent its most able reporter to visit and inspect the 
various natural gas plants in operation, with a view of finding 
the most perfect system and writing it up. In its issue of 
January 1, 1S85, the Leader published the following interesting 
and instructive article, based upon the investigation of its 
reporter. Oil City, supplied with Converse Lock Joint pipe, 
Kalamein, was selected as the model plant : 

Why the; Oil, Country is not Being Bl,own Up by Natural, Gas 

as we are. 

In view of the damage that has already resulted from the introduction 
of natural gas in this city and that yet threatening, the public has many 
times asked the question, " How is it that the element is so successfully 
used in the oil country?" It was for the purpose of determining this 
matter that a representative of the Leader visited the principal sections 
where the gas is in use, the past few days. In the outset it might be stated 
that a careful examination of every detail would seem to confirm the opinion 
held by oil country people that the troubles that have so beset Pittsburgh 
are entirely due to a total disregard of consequences on the part of the 
various companies in laying pipe. Natural gas is being used most exten- 
sively at Bradford, Olean and Oil City. It is the latter point, however, that 
by far the most valuable and carefully managed plant is to be found, and 
for that reason only the latter will be treated in detail at this time. Messrs. 
Strong and Porterfield comprise what is known as the Oil City Fuel Supply 
Company, the charter for which was secured over three years ago, and it is 
now about two years since the gas was first introduced in the city. At the 
office of the company Mr. Porterfield was encountered, and after making 
known the object of his visit, that official accompanied the scribe to the 
company's shops, where more than an hour was spent in explaining the de- 
tails attending the laying of mains and the manner of making joints and 
connections. The result of this investigation, as far as it wotdd be of in- 
terest to Pittsburgers, is as follows : 

The source of supply is at a point a little more than eleven miles east of 
the city. This is in the shape of several strong gas wells, that were some 
years since abandoned as a fruitless search for oil, and consequently with 
their deluge of gas were deserted as worthless, until the idea of utilizing the 
gas for fuel was conceived. Commencing at the wells two, five and five- 
eighths inch casing are laid for a distance of two miles. These are connected 
with a ten-inch Converse Lock Joint Kalamein wrought-iron pipe covering 



NATURAL GAS. 569 



the remaining six miles to the city line. Once in the city is used exclu- 
sively what is known as Converse Lock Joint Kalamein pipe. This is manu- 
factured from an admixture of white metal and iron, and when worked into 
pipe is to all appearances the exact counterpart of a galvanized pipe. Upon 
bringing a chisel to bear on it, however, the composition is found to be the 
same all through, which is not the case with the former, where only the 
surface is galvanized. The composition is not porous, as is the case with 
cast-iron pipe, neither will it corrode or rust by contact with earth sub- 
stances, whether it be laid in ashes or garbage, so damaging to pipe not so 
manufactured. As stated, none other is used for the mains throughout the 
city, and the sizes range from three to ten inches, the former for low and 
the latter for high pressure, which ranges in the latter from forty to fifty 
pounds to the square inch. From the high-pressure pipe only mills and 
factories where a large quantity of gas is required, are supplied, while for 
generel use or private consumption, the gas is secured from the stnaller 
pipe, where it is confined at a pressure equal to five ounces water pressure, 
or a little less than six ounces. This pressure is maintained by the use of 
gasometers through which the gas is distributed from the high-pressure 
mains. These are composed of sheet-iron tanks, the lower of about one 
hundred barrel capacity, and the other sufficiently less to be inverted, where 
it is suspended by a chain passing over pulleys to a lever regulating the 
flow of gas from the high-pressure main by the use of a valve. Six of these 
are used at different points throughout the city for the purpose of fresh- 
ening the pressure, and in this way the pressure varies scarcely half an 
ounce. For the purpose of avoiding the deleterious effect of the atmosphere 
or frost, all mains and connections as far as practicable are laid at a uniform 
depth of four and one-half feet from the surface. 

What is considered the most important feature in pipe laying at Oil City 
is tight joints. These, Mr. Porterfield stated, are made with the greatest 
care that can be exercised, with the aid of the appliance constructed to suit 
the Kalamein pipe. Near the end, and on the outside of every pipe, is a 
teat for effecting the lock joint ; over the ends is placed a cast-iron coupling 
with grooves or slots in each end, into which the projections on the ends of 
the pipe are placed, after which a perfect lock is effected by simply turning 
the pipe in opposite directions. The entire joint is then filled with molten 
lead, which must be poured while showing a blue flame, to be of any con- 
sistency to be effectual. When the lead has cooled sufficiently, men who 
have become experts at the work go over the line with calking chisels and 
so pack the lead to a bearing against the inner surface as to make a leak im- 
possible under any circumstances. It was stated that so carefully was 
this done that not a leak was discovered in all lines since being 
laid. So also was the same care exercised in making connections, 
only with a different appliance. This is called a " saddle," and 
consists of a cast-iron band about three inches wide at the top 
and about half that width at the bottom, and provided with screw 
fastenings. It is also much thicker at the top where it is tapped to 
suit the size of connection to be made. In all cases a " gasket," consisting 
of a sheet of lead, is placed on the surface to be tapped. The connection is 
then made by screwing the end of the pipe into the saddle, allowing it to 
pass through the gasket and main, instead of simply screwing it into the 



570 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



shell of the main pipe, as is done in this city, in this manner connections 
are made on all sizes of pipe, whether large, high-pressnre or otherwise. 
Before entering a house, a cut-off valve is placed near the curb, to be operated 
by a key such as is used by the water company. For this a screw curb-box, 
so called because of the peculiar manufacture to suit whatever depth the 
pipe may be laid. This precaution is taken so that the gas can be shut off 
promptly in case of fire from any cause. Once in the premises, there is 
introduced a little device called the " meter." This is an egg-shaped cast- 
iron device with a thread on one end, where it is attached to the supply pipe, 
and in the other an aperture varying in size from three to five thirty-seconds, 
according to the amount of gas required and to be paid for. The meter is 
also provided with six openings near the point of supply for the purpose of 
allowing air to enter with the gas and thus effect a complete combustion. 

The next feature examined was the expansion joints on the main pipe, 
some distance from the city, and used only wherever it was necessary to lay 
the pipe on the surface. These consist of a connection made by placing 
loosely fitting cast-iron sleeves over the point where the pipes meet and 
securely calked or packed with hemp. This, it is held, is the only kind of 
a joint that will allow for expansion and contraction by heat and cold, and 
it might also be stated that Mr. Porterfield and others, who spoke from 
experience, stated that neither lead nor screw joints would be impervious to 
frost at a less depth than four and one-half feet from the surface. To this, 
as well as bad workmanship, was the trouble now being experienced in this 
city attributed. 

Mr. J. V. Collins, who lays claim to being the first to utilize natural gas 
while a driller 'way back in '62, was next encountered. When questioned, 
he said : "Why, if the authorities want Pittsburgh blown to atoms just 
introduce a cast-iron pipe system." He then explained that a well-known 
eastern professor long since demonstrated that natural gas, while not an 
explosive in its pure state, is more dangerous than dynamite when adulterated 
with oxygen to the extent of, say, three-fourths of the latter and one-fourth 
of the former. While operating in the field he said he found that the moment 
air was admitted into a pipe containing natural gas, and which was burning, 
the flame follows the pipe instantly. In this way he knew of gas tanks to 
be exploded fifty to sixty feet away from where the flame was ignited. 

It has been held by some Pittsburgh experts that the gas secured in this 
section is what is known as fire-damp and much harder to handle than that 
secured in the oil country, as being more dangerous. This is not credited 
by the oil country experts. That our gas is odorless, while in the upper 
country it smells strongly of oil, is said to be due to the fact that it comes 
from the vicinity of petroleum deposits. In other respects it differs only in 
making a better illuminant than Pittsburgh gas, which is due to our excess 
of carbon. 

How the insurance fraternity regard the extra hazard may best be ap- 
preciated when it is stated that all the insurance men visited at Oil City 
stated that they granted the privilege to use the gas without extra charge, 
and were glad to do this, since the new fuel as handled there is considered 
much safer than coal. " The most serious results of its use," said one of 
these, ' ' is the manner in which it is lengthening the visages of the few coal 
dealers left in this section." 



NATURAL GAS. 571 



It might be stated in this connection that a New Yorker named Biglow, 
who claims to have perfected a process for rendering the natural gas suit- 
able for illuminating purposes, is now constructing a works for the Oil City 
Supply Company. It is therefore expected that within the space of a few 
moons gas coal will become a thing of the past in that city. So far but one 
serious explosion occurred in that section from natural gas, and that was 
entirely due to the negligence of the inevitable plumber in making a con- 
nection. 

This article was published by the Leader, as above stated, 
by its own free will and without any compensation, hints or sug- 
gestions from us whatsoever. The article received widespread 
attention. 



The following is clipped from the Pittsburgh Chronicle Tel- 
egraph, February 24, 1885. It is in reference to the terrible nat- 
ural gas explosion, which took place at Wellsburg, W. Va., on 
February 21, causing the loss of property and several lives: 

THE WELLSBURG EXPLOSION. 
Smaee Boys Amuse Themselves by Striking Matches Above the 

Gas Mains. 

Weeesburg, W. Va., February 24, 1885. — There are various opinions 
expressed here as to the cause of the explosion of last Saturday. The mains 
are cast-iron bowl pipe, used for water generally, but in this case it is under- 
stood that the gas company were advised by supposed experts that lead 
joints would hold all the pressure that could be brought upon them, and 
being much cheaper they were adopted, and ever since the gas was turned 
in, the small bo}' has amused himself by punching holes over the pipe and 
lighting the escaping gas, which in some places would burn to the height of 
two feet or more. At the Helsley building the inmates had for two days 
noticed a strong smell of gas, and on the night of the explosion had retired 
in darkness, being afraid to have a light, and it will never be known how if 
was ignited. 

Many of our citizens have gone back to the use of coal, fearing to use 
the gas. There can be no safety while the mains are in the street, until the 
ground is thawed sufficiently to allow the escape of the gas upward. In the 
cellar of the wrecked building the gas is still burning in sufficient quantity 
to supply heat for a dozen houses. The escape from death of the neighbors 
was almost a miracle. The house of Josiah Wynne, adjoining, was mashed 
almost flat, and himself and wife and four children escaped without a 
bruise, and immediately opposite, Mr. George Davidson's residence was 
completely wrecked, though no one was hurt, and the same can be said of 
all in the immediate vicinity. Davidson loses almost everything, having 
no insurance. Nearly all the tall houses had the glass shattered on the 
side next the ruin. In Brilliant, across the river, windows were broken 
and doors blown open, and people on the street were knocked off their 
feet. 



572 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Desiring the plain facts in the case, we sent a man to exam- 
ine into the matter and report. On February 27, 1885, he re- 
ported as follows : 

Noticing the above in the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph of February 
24, I went to Wellsburg yesterday to ascertain the facts concerning the re- 
cent explosion, and, if possible, induce the Wellsburg Gas Company to re- 
place the defective pipe with our wrought-iron line pipe. 

I found that the system was laid with ordinary cast-iron pipe (leaded 
joint) such as is common with this class of pipe, was leaking over nearly 
the entire line. The line includes about seven (7) miles of mains. The 
condition of the mains in the town can be judged from the following state- 
ment which was made to the writer by a reputable citizen of Wellsburg. 
This gentleman said that the boys of the town often amused themselves by 
punching holes in the frozen surface of the ground over the pipes and ignit- 
ing the escaping gas. The citizen assured me that he had seen the gas 
from as many as twenty (20) of these vents burning at the same time on 
one block. 

Another gentleman informed me that he had tried the same experiment 
on his property near which one of the mains run, with a like result, show- 
ing that in frosty weather the leaking gas percolates through the earth for 
some distance from the pipe, under the surface. The people are very much 
excited over the situation, and the Council is now considering ordinances 
which may force the company to relay the entire System, or give up the 
franchise. The company is working to have the ordinances already passed, 
and those pending, so modified as to allow them to continue, but in no 
event to extend their system with any class of pipe other than wrought-iron. 



Judge Stowe's Gas Decision Cited. 
BuTEER, Pa., February 24, 1885. — Judge Hazen has refused to grant a 
special preliminary injunction against the use of natural gas. The applica- 
tion was made by the Town Council and argued at New Castle several weeks 
ago. The Judge cited the recent decision of Judge Stowe as a precedent. 
The cast-iron gas mains are leaking badly, endangering life and property, 
and a majority of the citizens are indignant because the injunction was not 
granted. — Special telegram to the Pittsburgh Dispatch, February 27, 1885. 



This afternoon at about half-past one four men employed on the gas 
line, low pressure (natural gas), at Sharpsburg, were the victims of a singular 
accident. A test was being made of the cast-iron pipe by forcing air through 
the two-inch main by means of a couple of Westinghouse air pumps, and 
the men were in the ditch at the corner of Bridge and South Main streets 
examining the joints, when one of the cast-iron pipes burst, and the men 
were blown clear out of the trench. All four of them were badly cut about 
the head and face, besides being considerably bruised about the body. — 
Pittsburgh Leader, March 5, /88j. 



NATURAL GAS. 573 



Cast-Iron Condemned. 
A corps of engineers in the employ of the Penn Fuel and Fuel Gas 
companies are locating lines along the river banks within the city limits for 
large high-pressure wrought-iron mains, which the corporations intend to 
lay as soon as the weather permits. All present high-pressure pipes will be 
made low pressure when the new line is completed. The company intends 
to dispense with the use of all cast-iron pipes and connections, and will use 
forged conveyors and connections. It has been proven that natural gas 
penetrates cast-iron pipes. The fact is substantiated by Prof. Siemens, the 
famous gas expert, who stated positively that cast-iron pipes should not be 
used to convey natural gas. — Pittsburgh Telegraph, March ij, /88j. 



EXPLOSION OF NATURAL GAS. 
Two Men Kieeed Outright and Three Others Fataeey Injured. 

Pittsburgh, August 9,1889. — The South Side was the scene of a terrible 
accident at about six this evening. At that time, just as a gang of Booth & 
Flinn's men were about to quit work, a terrific explosion occurred, which 
shook the buildings around for many squares, and did deadly work among 
the workmen and bystanders. 

The men were engaged in laying the cast-iron pipe for the Monongahela 
Gas Company at the corner of Eighth and Bingham Streets. They adjusted 
a dead-line in the pipe to leave their work over night secure, and the usual 
test was to be made of it by a pressure of seventy-five pounds of compressed 
air, but before more than sixty pounds had been applied the explosion 
occurred. When the bystanders, who were not injured, collected their wits 
they discovered that three persons had been killed and nine others seriously 
wounded, a number of them undoubtedly fatally. 

John Miller, a } r ouug man of 17, who was employed in a mill near by, 
and who was watching the test, was hurled across the street and against a 
wall, breaking his neck and dying in about five minutes. John O'Connor, 
another bystander, was picked up dead, with his jaw broken and his skull 
fractured. William Showalter had one leg broken in three places and 
received other injuries which will result fatally. 

Others seriously injured were : John Greener, married, terribly cut and 
bruised, injured internally, will die; Henry Reich, a boy, skull fractured 
and injured internally, will die ; John Braney, millwright, internally injured 
and head cut ; William Green, badly cut and bruised, and thought to have 
received internal injuries ; James Hendrick, of St. Louis, both legs broken. 

All the wounded were removed to South Side Hospital, and a number 
of physicians summoned to attend them. It is stated positively that the 
pipe which was being used was defective throughout, and that some of it 
had been condemned. — A T ezv York Sun, August loth, I8S9. 



Not Ready to Testify. 
Coroner McDowell yesterday morning held an inquest into the cause of 
Friday evening's terrible explosion on the South Side. Those who were 
near the ditch at the time were not forthcoming, and very little evidence 



574 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



was elicited, so the inquest had to be adjourned till August 20, at 11 A. M. 
Emanuel Jackson, undertaker, of Carson Street, said he was sitting outside 
his place of business about six o'clock, when he heard a noise like that of a 
cannon shot. He ran down to the ditch, and found the results of the explo- 
sion precisely as published in the Dispatch yesterday. — From the Pittsburgh 
Dispatch, August 12, 1889. 

Pat Ryan, of 282 Second avenue, foreman for Booth & Flinn, deposed 
that the line had been inspected Friday afternoon and stood 60 pounds 
pressure all right. It was noticed that the dead-cap was leaking but no or- 
ders to tighten the bolts were given. O'Connor, however, went down, and 
was about to tighten them, when an explosion took place. Ryan himself 
was then struck with a heap of stones, and thrown quite a distance. After 
that he became insensible. Neither John Miller, nor John Greener was in 
Booth & Flinn's employ. O'Connor, the other man killed, was the only man 
in the gang. 

Pat Garvey and Philip Shea, said they always considered the dead-cap 
safe. It had been used with a 75-pound pressure. 

All those wounded stand a fair chance of recovery, with the exception 
of Harry Reich, the 14-year-old boy whose skull was fractured, and whose 
condition is precarious. 

Not much could be done at the point where the explosion took place, as 
the dead-cap was whirled up Bingham street, struck the water main where 
it joins a fire plug near South Eighth street, and! the water filled the trench. — 
Pittsburgh Dispatch, August 12, 1S89. 



MONONGAHELA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY. 

We think that the foregoing references to the South Side, 
Pittsburgh, cast-iron pipe explosion, sufficient evidence of the 
disaster resulting from its use at that point. The searching in- 
vestigation of the casualty was harrowing in its details of the 
" Death in the Ditch," as the Pittsburgh newspapers termed it, 
and the use of cast-iron pipe for the conveyance of natural gas 
was again condemned. 

The cast-iron pipe in question comprised only a short sec- 
tion of the line of the Monongahela Construction Company at 
the Pittsburgh terminus. The balance of the line was composed 
of our Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe, which has given per- 
fect satisfaction, as will be noted from the testimonial which ap- 
pears on page 559, from President James B. Oliver. 

We furnished this Company with the following Converse 
Patent Lock Joint -Pipe, shipments commencing July 15th and 
ending September 28th, 1889 : 

12 inch 4,250 feet 

16 inch 100,685 feet 

20 inch 15,736 feet 



NATURAL GAS. 575 



JAMES 'WILLIAMS, C. E. 

Johnstown, Pa., September 30th, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

By invitation of your Mr. Riley, I visited the pipe line of the Westmore- 
land and Cambria Natural Gas Company, near this place, and inspected the 
Converse Patent Lock Joint. 

During an experience of forty years laying pipe, I have never seen a 
joint equal to it, both for expediency in laying and completeness of joint. 
In fact, I consider it the perfect joint. 

(Signed) James Wh,uams, 

Supt. Johnstown Water Company. 



PEOF. SIEMENS. 

This famous gas expert stated positively that cast-iron pipe 
should not be used to convey natural gas, on account of the 
porous nature of the iron and the penetrating quality of the gas. 
Prof. Siemens' opinion, based on the result of his knowledge 
and research, has been substantiated in the operations of the 
Penn Fuel and Fuel Gas Companies, where it has been proven 
that natural gas penetrated cast-iron pipes. 



OPINION OF JUDGE EWING. 

Judge Ewing, before whom application was made for an injunction 
against the Tube Works Company, praying for a decree to restrain the Com- 
pany from laying pipe and conveying natural gas through the same, took 
occasion to remark when the attorney for the plaintiff attempted to impress 
his Honor with the safety of cast-iron pipe at low pressure, that, so far as 
he was concerned, no pressure could be low enough for him in the use of 
cast-iron mains, and for his part he would insist upon the use of wrought- 
iron pipe. — The McKeesport Times. 



576 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON 

PIPE. 

The following table of the gas-delivering capacity of different 
sized wrought-iron Standard and Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Pipe was compiled by the well-known gas expert, William J. 
Hartupee, of Pittsburgh, after months of research, based upon 
actual results, intricate calculations and at great expense. 

It has been found to be very accurate when compared with 
actual results attained, and of the utmost value in making up 
estimates for projected lines. 

Among other things it has clearly proven our claims of mini- 
mum friction and maximum delivery for Converse Patent Lock 
Joint Pipe. 

We have the testimony of such eminent authority as Haswell, 
that the difference in frictional resistance to flow between 
ordinary cast-iron pipe and the Converse Lock Joint, wrought- 
iron and steel pipe is about 30 per cent. Trautwine, Fanning and 
others are all of one opinion that the most conservative formulas 
on friction accord to cast-iron pipe, and other conduits where 
there is a break in the continuity of the inner surface, a capacity 
much in excess of practical results. This difference in capacity, 
therefore, should not be overlooked in any comparison between 
Converse Lock Joint wrought-iron and steel pipe and other 
classes of conduits, inasmuch as, size for size, the latter are much 
inferior. 

This table, as already stated, is the result of elaborate special 
calculations made by Mr. William J. Hartupee, and proven by 
exhaustive experiments and close observation of the practical 
operations of the lines of Converse Joint wrought-iron pipe 
of various sizes and mileage, in the system of the Philadelphia 
Company, which were under his immediate supervision, and 
therefore they are free from the suspicion inseparable from results 
obtained by the use of formulas ordinarily employed. 

The stated deliveries of the various sizes, for the given 
distance, apply to artificial gas as well as to natural gas. 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON PIPE. 



577 



Gas Delivering Capacity of Different Sized Dines and of Different 

Lengths, but With the Same Initial and Terminal Pressures, 

in Cubic Feet per Hour. 



Inside 
Diameter. 


< w 

W 
U) &S 


Lbs. Terminal 
Pressure. 


2 Miles. 


4 Miles. 
162,150 


6 Miles. 


S Miles. 


10 Miles. 


12 Miles. 


tf, 


5^ 


in. 


200 


5 


231,150 


131,100 117,30c 


100,050 


93,150 


B 


in. 


200 


5 


538,200 


379,500 


310,500 269,100 


241,500 


220,800 


r 


6 


in. 


200 


5 


634,800 


445,050 


365,700 317,400 


282,900 


258,750 


k 


a 


in. 


200 


5 


1,300,650 


917,700 


748,650 648,600 


583,050 


527,850 


s 


IO 
. 12 


in. 


200 


5 


2,273,550 


1,607,700 


I,3II,OO0. 1,135,050 


1,014,300 


924,600 


55 


in. 


200 


5 


3,584,550 


2,535,750 


2,o66,55o | 1,790,550 


1,600,800 


1,462,800 


U 


7/2 


in. 


200 


5 


1,104,000 


783,150 


638,250! 552,000 


496, 800 


451,930 


&, 


9>2 


in. 


200 


5 


C997,550 


1,411,050 


1,152,300 1,000,500 


893,550 


814,200 


■g 


ny 2 


in. 


200 


5 


3,222,300 


2,277,000 


1,859,550 1,611,150 


1,442,100 


1,314,450 


S 


*5/ 


in. 


200 


5 


6,527,400 


4,612,650 


3,767,400 3,263,700 2,918,700 


2,663,400 


I 


17/ 


in. 


200 


5 


8,880,300 


6,279,000 


5,126,700 4,440,150 


3,970,950 


3,625,950 


u 

V 


19/4 


in. 


200 


5 


11,685,150 


8,262,750 


6,744,75Qj 5,840,850 


5,223,300 


4,771,350 


> 

a 


21/ 


in. 


200 


5 


14,959,200, 


10,577,700 


8,635,350 7,479.600 


6,689,550 


6,106,500 


3 


.23/ 


in. 


200 


5 


18,730,050 

] 


13,244,550 


10,812,300 9,366,750 


8,376,600 


7,645,200 



Note. — The above calculations are based on a straight line of pipe, no allowance being made for 
loss by friction owing to bends and contour of ground. 

Gas Delivering Capacity of Different Sized Lines and of Different 

Lengths, but With the Same Initial and Terminal Pressures, 

in Cubic Feet per Hour. 



Inside 
Diameter. 


w 


< ■ 
H & 

£ W 
H (A 

W 


14 Miles. 


16 Miles. 


18 Miles. 


20 Miles. 


25 Miles. 


30 Miles. 


p, 


4 in. 


200 


5 


86, 250 


82,800 


75,900 


72,450 


65,550 


5S,6 5 o 


Ph 


5 5 A m. 


200 


5 


203,550 


189,750 179,400 


169,050 


155,250 


138,000 


-a 


6 in. 


200 


5 


238,050 


224,250; 210,450 


200,100 


179,400 


162,150 


h 


8 in. 


200 


5 


493,35o 
855,600 


458,850 427,800 


410,550 


365,700 


334,650 


s 


10 m. 


200 


5 


803,850, 755,550 


717,600 


641,700 


53L300 


si 


12 111. 


200 


5 


i,375,85o 


1,266,150 1,193,700 


1,131,600 


1,014,300 


924,600 


ft 


' 1% in. 


200 


5 


4i7,45o 


393,300 369,150 


348,450 


313,950 


286,350 


Ph 


9% in. 


200 


5 


755,550 


770,250, 669,300 


631,350 


558,900 


514,050 


+j 


11K in. 


200 


5 


1,217,850 


1,141,950, 1,072,950 


1,017,750 


910,800 


S3 1, 45o 


•3, 

V 


15/ 111. 


200 


5 


2,466,750 


2,308,050 2,176,950 


2,063,100 


1,845,750 


1,683,600 


17/ in. 


200 


5 


3,356,850 


3, T 39, 5°o 2,960,100 


2,808,300 


2,511,600 


2,290,800 


1-. 


19/ 111. 


200 


5 


4,416,000 


4,129,650 3,895,050 


3,694,950 


3,301,650 


3,015,300 


a 


21/ in. 


200 


5 


5,654,55o 


5,288,850 4,985,250 


4,729,950 


4,229,700 


3,860,550 


tj 


.23/" m. 


200 


5 


6,079,400 


6,620,550, 6,241,050 


5,923,650 


5,295,750 


4,836,900 



Note. — The above calculations are based on a straight line of pipe, no allowance being made for 
loss by friction owing to bends and contour of ground. 



578 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



While on this subject, in this chapter, we will furnish 
further practical data covering details of pipe-laying in all its 
important particulars, such as trenching, back-filling, laying the 
pipe, calking, labor, etc.; in fact, complete specifications from 
start to finish in the construction of lines, based upon actual 
practice. We will also add authentic figures relating to the 
cost of laying cast-iron pipe, which will enable you to make 
comparisons with wrought-iron pipe under the same conditions. 



TRENCHING. 

Width and depth of trench generally adopted in the Pitts- 
burgh gas district : 

Size of Pipe. Width at Top of Trench. Width at Bottom of Trench. 



6-in. 










12-in. 


S-in. 










14-in. 


io-in. 










16-in. 


12-in. 










20-in. 


16-in 










25-in. 


20-in. 










30-in. 


24-in 










36-in. 


pth— 


A 


4 


foot 


cover 


for all sizes. 



9" 


in. 


1 1- 


111. 


J 3" 


in. 


16- 


in. 


20- 


in. 


2 5- 


in. 



30-in. 



COST OF TRENCHING AND BACK-FILLING. 

Average cost in the Pittsburgh gas district furnished by 
different contractors : 



Size of Pipe. 


Country. 


Village 


or 


Town. 


City. 




6-in. 


6c. per ft. 


8c. 


per ft. 


14c. 


per 


ft. 


8-in. 


7c. 


QC. 




" 


15c. 




( 


io-in. 


8c. 


I IC. 




" 


1 8c. 




' 


12-in. 


ioc. " 


13c. 




" 


2ic. 




' 


16-in. 


13c. 


17c. 




K 


26c. 




' 


20-in. 


17c. " 


2ic. 




" 


31c. 






24-in. 


22c. " 


27c. 




a 


39C 




< 



Cost is based on width and depth of trenching given above. 
These figures are said to be the exact cost to contractors. 



COST OF PIPE LAYING. 

Safe average number of Converse Pipe joints laid and 
calked by a gang of men in 10 hours. A gang of men con- 
sists of : 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON PIPE. 579 



i Foreman $ 2 50 — Pittsburg wages. 

7 Pipe Layers, at $1.75 12 25 " 

6 Calkers, at $2.00 1 2 00 " 





Total 


cost 
Av 




$26 7S 


for 


10 hours. 




erage 


number of 


Cost of Laying and 


Size of Pipe. 




Joints Laid in 10 hours. 




Calking per foot. 


6-in. 








150 


Joints. 




ic. per ft. 


S-in. 








1 10 


a 




i#c « 


10 in. 








100 


" 




iy 2 c " 


12-in. 








90 


u 




i^c " 


16-in. 








60 


" 




2^C. " 


20-111. 








5° 


" 




2y 2 c " 


24-m. 








40 


" 




3C 



The above show very low averages of joints laid and calked 
in 10 hours. One record shows that as many as 200 joints of 
12-in. Converse Pipe were laid and calked in 10 hours by one 
gang of men. Another record shows that 305 joints of 8-in. 
Converse Pipe were laid and calked in 10 hours by one gang of 
men. 



SPECIFICATIONS 



For Hauung 12-iN. and 16-iN. Pipe, Digging Trench, Laying Pipe 
and Re-Fieeing Trench for Pipe Line from Murrysvieee to 
Pittsburgh. 

These specifications were compiled by the well known 
expert, Engineer Hartupee, for the construction of the Park 
Brothers & Company, Limited — Pittsburgh Natural Gas Com- 
pany — extensive natural gas system. 

The details contained in these carefully studied specifica- 
tions are the result of research and practical experience, and you 
will find them of value in cases where you have dealings on this 
subject. 

ROUTE. 
The line will start at a point about two and a-half miles northeast of the 
town of Murrysville, aud continue in an almost straight line to the Franks- 
town road at a point near Hebron Church ; thence following the general 
direction of said Frankstown road to Penn Avenue ; thence to Centre 
Avenue ; thence to Liberty Avenue ; thence to Thirty-second Street ; thence 
to Park Brothers & Company's mill ; thence by either Smallman Street or 
Spruce alley to Solar Iron Works. 



580 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



pipe;. 
The first eight miles, more or less, of pipe from the gas field toward the 
city is to be 12 inches, wrought-iron, Converse Patent Joint pipe, weighing 
about 40 pounds per foot. At the end of the 12-inch, a 16-inch cast iron line 
of pipe will be laid, extending into the city, a distance of seven miles, more 
or less. The weight of the cast-iron pipe will be about 115 pounds per foot. 

TRENCH. 
The depth of the trench shall not be less than \Y 2 feet for the 12-inch 
and s% f ee t for the 16-inch pipe, exclusive of the bell holes ; but at such 
points as grade figures are given on the pins, the trench shall be dug to 
correspond to said grade figures, irrespective of the ordinary depth as called 
for above. The trench shall be of such width as proper construction of the 
line may require. 

CAVING DITCH. 

The second party is to keep the ditch in good condition until the pipe 
is laid and tested, and no claim is to be made on first party by reason of the 
ditch caving in before pipe is laid. 

CREEK CROSSING. 

Where line crosses creeks or small streams of water, the trench shall be 
dug full depth, and the pipe, after being laid and tested, shall be encased in 
a box made of two-inch plank, and extending twenty feet beyond the banks 
on each side of the water, if in the judgment of the engineer it is necessary 
to be extended that far. The box shall be of such inside measurement that 
there will be a clear space of two inches all around the body of the pipe as 
well as around the hub, which space shall be run solid with cement for the 
full length of the box ; it being the intention of this clause to protect the 
pipe from the action of any injurious substances that may be in the water. 
It is therefore understood that the second party make the coating around 
the pipe at these stream crossings absolutely water-proof. 

CINDER. 

Where ditch runs through cinder, loam shall be placed and tamped in 
for a depth of 12 inches on both sides and bottom of pipe, and after broken 
stone and tar paper have been placed on top of pipe, 12 inches of loam shall 
be placed in and tamped before other material is placed in ditch. 

DRAINS. 

Where ditch crosses drains the same shall be put in as good condition as 
they were before the ditch was dug, and any damages sustained by laud- 
owners or tenants by reason of damaged drains shall be paid for by second 
party. 

FURNISHING LABOR, TOOLS, SUPPLIES, ETC. 

Second party is to furnish, at its own cost, all the labor and tools neces- 
sary for digging trenches, laying and testing pipe, in the manner and within 
the time herein specified ; to furnish labor for putting in ventilating posts 
or escapes, sleeves, gates and fittings, and to furnish all lead used in calking, 
lumber to brace trench, build bridges or barricades, all broken stone, all 
tar paper and all appliances for testing the pipe, and all other material or 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT- 1 RON PIPE. 581 



supplies necessary for the performance of the work, excepting the pipe, 
sleeves, valves, fittings, gate boxes and covers, and lamp posts and covers, 
which will be furnished by the said first party. 

FENCES. 
All fences taken down by second party, for whatsoever purpose, shall be 
replaced by them and left in as good condition as they were previous to the 
line being commenced, and any fence damaged or destroyed shall be re- 
placed or paid for by said second party, it being distinctly understood that 
all damage sustained by reason of the digging of the trench, laying of the 
pipe, re-filling the ditch or hauling the pipe, except such as are covered by 
the right-of-way taken by the first party, shall be settled by the second 
party. 

LAYING THE 12-INCH PIPE. 

The pipe, which is to be 12 in. in diameter, and fitted with the Converse 
Patent Joint, shall be laid in a first-class manner in every respect, every 
joint shall be thoroughly locked, and the joint run with but one pouring of 
lead. After the joint is run the socket on both sides is to be thoroughly 
calked and made perfectly tight under a gas pressure of 250 pounds to the 
square inch. 

The manner of locking the joints, and the position of the locks in rela- 
tion to pipe, shall be done under the direction of the first party's engineer. 

LAYING THE 16-INCH PIPE. 
The pipe inside the city limits shall occupy such position on the streets 
as may be designated by the City Engineer, and beyond the city limits its 
location shall be designated by the engineer of the first party. The depth of 
the pipe inside the city limits shall be determined by the City Ordinance 
regulating the manner of laying pipes. After the pipe is placed in ditch and 
blocked as hereinafter described, the joint shall be made with double refined 
lead, and but one pouring of lead must be made to each joint. No oakum 
or other material than lead shall be used in the joint. The joint must be 
calked so that it is perfectly tight, and satisfactory to the engineer of the 
first party or his representatives. 

BLOCKING. 

Each joint of pipe shall be thoroughly blocked, so that it will have a 
firm, rigid foundation, each length of pipe being blocked in at least four dif- 
ferent points, and at more points if the ground is not perfectly solid, the 
number of blocking under each length of pipe to be decided by engineer of 
the first party. No block shall be used that is less than 24 inches long, or 
less than 16 inches wide, for the 24-inch pipe, or less than 16 inches long and 
12 inches wide for the 12-inch pipe. 

TESTING. 
The 12-inch pipe shall be tested with gas to 250 lbs. to the sq. in., and 
the 16-inch pipe beyond the city limits to 150 lbs. per sq. in. with gas, and 
inside the city limits with 70 lbs. air pressure, and the time of making these 
tests, and the manner of making them, shall be decided upon by the engin- 
eer of the first party. 



582 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



TAMPING AND FILLING DITCH OUTSIDE OF CITY. 

When the pipe is laid, and before being calked, the distance between 
the joints to be thoroughly rammed underneath and around the sides of 
and on top of the pipe for a distance of at least one foot above the top of the 

Pipe- 
When the joints are calked and the line tested and found tight, the earth 
to be thoroughly tamped underneath and on sides of the joint, and also on 
top, so as not to give the pipe any chance to settle caused by weight of the 
earth on top of the pipe. After the ditch has been tamped in the above 
manner to the satisfaction of the engineer of the first party, the ditch shall 
be filled in, and all the material taken out of the ditch shall be either placed 
in or on the ditch. 

All road crossings are to be tamped within 12 inches of surface of ground, 
and then 18 inch of broken stone placed in and on the ditch, the tampers to 
be made of an iron blade 7 inches long, 5 inches wide and one-half inch 
thick, having an iron handle attached thereto at least 4 feet long, the blade 
to be slightly curved. 

TAMPING AND FILLING DITCH INSIDE THE CITY. 

After the broken stone system is put in as hereinafter described the 
ditch shall be filled in and thoroughly tamped, the streets shall be re-paved, 
curb stones set and pavements re-laid. Any paving blocks for streets that 
are needed, or demanded by city engineers must be furnished by the second 
party. 

BROKEN STONE ESCAPE SYSTEM. 

After the 16-inch line is laid and tested inside the city limits, the ditch 
shall be filled to the center of the pipe with clay. This clay shall be thor- 
oughly tamped around and under the pipe, then the ditch shall be filled 
with broken stone that will pass through a 4-inch ring to a height of 6 inches 
above the top of the pipe at the center and six inches above the bowl. This 
broken stone shall then be covered with a layer of heavy tar paper, the ditch 
shall then be filled in with clay and thoroughly tamped. In tamping ditch 
in city there shall be four men tamping to each man shovelling in dirt. At 
every hundred feet a lamp-post shall be placed at the curb and the bottom 
of this lamp-post shall be connected by a ditch at least 15 inches wide with 
the stone on pipe. This ditch shall be filled in with broken stone for a 
height of 15 inches and covered with tar paper. After the work is finished 
the lamp-posts shall all be painted by the second party and neatly paved 
about where they are placed upon brick pavements. 

PROTECTING DITCH. 

All roads or streets that are crossed or run along are to be so protected 
as not to be dangerous to travel, and the second party is to become responsi- 
ble for any accident that may occur by reason of said ditch not being pro- 
tected by barricades, lanterns, etc., or by reason of the existence of said 
ditch. All road and street crossings are to be bridged after being opened, 
and in no case is any road or street to be so obstructed as to entirely prevent 
travel. 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON PIPE. 583 



FITTINGS, VALVES, ETC. 
Fittings and valves shall be placed in the line at such points as the first 
party's engineer may direct, and after the line is tested, boxes shall be 
placed over each valve of such size and character as the engineer of first 
party may direct, and no extra charge shall be made for the extra digging 
required to put said fittings, valves and boxes in line, and at such places as 
boxes are put over valves the surplus earth shall be hauled away. 

UNLOADING AND HAULING PIPE. 

The first party will deliver the pipe and fittings on board cars at the 
end of Plum Creek branch of the A. V. R. R. or at such other stations on 
the A. V. R. R. or P. R. R. as maybe more convenient to said second party. 
But the said second party shall unload the cars and haul pipe and fittings 
and all material along the ditch where they may be required. All rights of 
way not covered by the first party's right of way agreements to be settled 
for by the said second party. 

INJURY TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY. 

Iii no case is the party of the first part to be held liable for any injury done 
to person or property by reason of said work, and the second party hereby 
agrees to become responsible for all claims for damages, of whatsoever char- 
acter, done or occasioned by reason of the construction of this line. 

CROSS LINES, FITTINGS, ESCAPES, ETC. 
All cross lines to gate valves are to be dug, and connections made, and 
gates put in, and gate boxes and lamp posts placed in position without extra 
charge of cost to said first party. If for any reason it may be necessary to 
lay pipe deeper than the City Ordinance requires it, it shall be done without 
extra cost or charge to the party of the first part. 

APPROVAL OF WORK. 

All the work is to conform to the requirements of the City Ordinance 
regulating the laying of natural gas pipes, and to be done in a manner satis- 
factory to the city engineer and to the engineer of the said first party ; the 
work shall not be considered finished, or any money due thereon until fully 
approved and certified to by said engineer. 

SUPERINTENDING OF WORK. 
All the above work shall be done to the satisfaction of the Engineer of 
first party, and under his direction, and he shall have the right under this 
contract, in case the second party delays or refuses to do work which under 
this contract it is his duty to do, to have the said work done at the expense 
of second party. 

FORFEITURE. 

The second party further agrees that the Engineer of the first party 
shall be the sole judge as to the satisfactory fulfillment of the provisions of 
this contract by the second party, and the second party further agrees to 
forfeit this contract on five days' notice from said Engineer that the work is 
not satisfactory or is delayed, and agrees to allow the first party, in case 
they forfeit the contract, to finish the work themselves or re-let it, and 



5S4 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



agrees to pay to the first party the difference between the price at which he 
agreed to do the work and the actual cost to the first party of finishing the 
work by reason of the said forfeiture. 

CHANGE OF ROUTE;. 

It is also agreed between the parties hereto that the said Engineer of 
the first party may change the direction of the trench as at present located, 
if he thinks proper to do so. 

MEASUREMENTS AND PAYMENTS. 

The pipe shall be measured when laid and paid for at a specified price 
per running foot. When laid no measurement will be taken across ditch 
for tees, valves, crosses, etc., unless same extends ten feet beyond centre 
line of pipe, in which case the second party will be paid for the excess over 
ten feet at the same rate per foot as the main line is paid for. Estimates 
will be made on the first of each month of the amount of finished work done 
by the second party, and 80 percentum of the contract price paid on it 
before the 10th of the month, and the remaining 20 percentum shall be re- 
tained by the first party uutil the work is finished and certified to as satis- 
factory by the engineer of the said first party, and such certificate shall not 
be issued until the said second parties shall present releases from all parties 
who by law have any claims against said second party on account of con- 
structing said line. 



LAYING CONVERSE JOINT PIPE. 

In addition to the records already given, we will add the 
following experiences of practical men in laying our pipe. 

We quote from a letter received from a prominent con- 
tractor : 

We believe we can put it in the ground (Converse Patent Lock Joint 
Pipe) about five times as rapidly as cast-iron pipe, and with about one-third 
the amount of lead. The ditches, also, can be very much narrower at the 
bottom, thereby saving the contractors considerable digging. 

Another contractor writes us : 

It is only fun to lay this size — 4 inch. We managed it in this way : 
One man looked after the melting of the lead ; two men coupled the pipe 
and prepared the joint ; one man followed and did the calking ; then we 
lifted the pipe off the bricks that were under each joint and turned on the 
water. Every joint was perfectly tight. It is easily handled and does not 
require pits at the joints, as does cast-iron pipe. 

Facts in detail : 

Thinking it may be of interest, I beg to submit the following data, 
based on actual experience, covering the matter of laying your Converse 
Patent Lock Joint pipe : 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON PIPE. 585 



Sixteen-Inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 

The pipe being strung along the ditch ready for dropping in, a gang 
of men, viz. : one foreman and seven men will lower the pipe into the ditch, 
lock the joints, melt the lead and pour the joints of, on an average (one 
day with another), sixty (60) joints of your pipe of this size, equivalent to 
1,000 feet. It will require six men additional to calk these joints, each man 
calking ten joints per day. 

While laying the Westmoreland and Cambria Natural Gas Company's 
line, one gang of men laid ninety (90) joints of 16-inch Converse Lock Joint 
Pipe in ten hours. 

Twelve-Inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 

The same gang of men will lay ninety (90) joints of this size of your 
pipe, under the same conditions, which is equivalent to 1,000 feet per day. 

While laying the United Gas Fuel Company's line, from Cannonsburg 
to Pittsburg, Pa., one gang of men on one of the days laid one hundred and 
fifty-five ( 155) joints of 12-inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe in eight hours. 

While laying the West Virginia Natural Gas Company's line from the 
Washington field in Pennsylvania to Wheeling, W. Va., one gang of men 
on one of the days laid one hundred and seventy-five (175) joints of 12-inch 
Converse Lock Joint Pipe in seven hours. 

Ten-inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 

The same men, under the same conditions, will lay one hundred (100) 
joints of this size of your pipe, which is equivalent to 1,800 feet per day. 

On another occasion, while laying the Shenango Natural Gas Company's 
line from Butler County to New Castle, Pa., one gang of men laid twenty- 
five (25) joints of 10-inch Converse Lock Joint pipe, in thirty minutes. 

Eight-inch Converse Lock Joint Pipe. 
The same gang of men, under the same conditions, will lay one hundred 
and ten (no) joints of this size of your Converse Lock Joint pipe, which is 
equivalent to 2,000 feet per day. 

Miscellaneous. 

These records are based upon the most careful work. For example : 
While laying the 16-inch line of Converse Lock Joint pipe for the Philadel- 
phia Natural Gas Company, of Pittsburgh, from Murrysville to Pittsburgh, the 
line was tested, after completion, with a natural gas pressure of 300 pounds 
to the square inch. During the test, three-mile sections were put under the 
pressure at the time. Not a single leak was shown up in the section of the 
entire line, after the rigid examination was made by the natural gas inspec- 
tors detailed for that purpose. 

While constructing the Longmont Water Works, Longmont, Colorado, 
which is made up of different sizes of your Converse Lock Joint pipe, 
from 3-inch to io-inch, and of which there were 14 miles, the work was com- 
pleted, the hydrants set and water turned into the mains in forty -two work- 
ing days. This work was done with labor which had never laid a foot of 
pipe previously. 

While laying the Converse Lock Joint pipe for the waterworks at Corsi- 



586 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



catma, Texas, made up also of sizes from 3-inch to 10-inch pipe, five miles 
in length, the work was completed in thirteen working days, and was also 
laid by a lot of men, most of whom were negroes, who had never laid a 
foot of this class of pipe previously. I can give a great many more facts 
and figures on this subject, the result of my experience in superintending 
the laying of Converse Lock Joint pipe (of which I have laid over 200 miles), 
confirming and in addition to the above ; but deem the above a fair aver- 
age, the labor for the most part never having had previous experience with 
your pipe. With labor having short experience with it, even better results 
could be attained, which is perfectly natural, but owing to the extreme sim- 
plicity of your system, men can be readily broken in to handle it rapidly. 

In conclusion, I would state that from my extended experience in 
laying pipe of all classes, I can say for your Converse Patent L,ock Joint 
pipe what I cannot for any other class, and that is, that I have never yet 
heard of a line of it, either for water, artificial gas, oil or natural gas, part- 
ing at the joint from either expansion or contraction, settliug of the ground, 
or other causes ; and I can certify from actual experience that I have been 
perfectly successful with this pipe and joint in attaining the most satis- 
factory results in the matters of strength of material, simplicity, rapidity 
of laying, durability, etc. In fact, I consider your Converse Joint pipe 
system excels all others, and that it is practically perfect. 

(Signed) George N. Riley, Constructing Engineer. 



PAINTING JOINTS. 



T. W. Brooks, water works engineer for the Dunham, Car- 
rigan & Hayden Company, makes a suggestion on contract work 
which is valuable and should be carried out. It refers to the 
damage done to the asphalt coating on pipe by the pipe-layers, 
which damage should be properly off-set by the application 
of either asphalt or paint : 

I have observed that no matter how careful a calker may be, there is 
sure to be more or less abrasion on the surface of the pipe coming in con- 
tact with the calking-tool when calking the joints, resulting in the disturb- 
ance of the coating. Wherever this occurs corrosion will follow, unless the 
damage is repaired at once by the application of paint or asphalt. I 
always make doubly sure to have joints thoroughly asphalted or painted, as 
the case may be, after the joints have been calked. It frequently occurs 
that owners and builders of works object to the expense involved in 
repainting the pipe near the hub, to off-set this damage. I presume your 
field men meet with similar opposition when ordering the use of asphalt or 
paint. I assure you that it will be of great value to instruct your field 
men that, after calking joints on Converse Joint asphalted, and even K. & 
A. pipe, it should be painted all around at joint and for a distance from the 
bell of not less than three inches. 



DELIVERING CAPACITY OF WROUGHT-IRON PIPE. 5S7 

CONVEYING GAS. 

Mr. George R. Stewart, in his paper on the " Conveyance 
of Natural Gas," read before a meeting of the Western Pennsyl- 
vania Engineers' Society, in speaking of the relative value of 
cast-iron and wrought-iron pipes, said wrought-iron pipe was 
preferable. He said : 

The wrought-iron tubes are connected by sleeves, cut with eight threads 
to the inch. Before laying they are tested up to a pressure of 500 pounds to 
the square inch. The advantages they possess are their strength to resist 
pressure, density of material, and facility of laying them. 

He further stated that all pipes should be sunk below the 
frost line, so as to keep them at as even a temperature as possible, 
and that the carrying of gas entirely by low pressure mains was 
impracticable. Of all the means proposed for conveying gas, 
Mr. Stewart considered the possible objections best met by sur- 
rounding the joints with sleeves large enough to gather up the 
waste and carry it off to a place of safety. 



CAST-IRON FITTINGS. 

In his testimony before the Natural Gas Commission, C. T. 
L. Wood stated on March 5th: 

The greatest trouble experienced by the Penu Fuel Company had been 
with cast-iron valves and fittings. There was alwa3 T s a tendency to leak from 
poor packings, and in quite a number of instances it had been discovered 
that the cast-iron valves and fittings were porous and that the gas forced it- 
self right through the cast-iron. The castings in the line between Thirty- 
fourth street and the heart of the city were similar to the one that occasioned 
the explosion at the above-named thoroughfare. 

It is further proved by our own experiences. On fittings the 
gas came through the apparently solid casting in such quanti- 
ties that it was lighted and burned steadily on the outside of 
the fitting. It was further proved by our own experiences on 
some fittings at our boilers. The natural gas penetrated through 
the cast-iron and was lighted on the outside, where it burned 
steadily after being ignited ; the pressure of gas was four 
ounces ; the pressure of gas on our wrought-iron main line, 
which penetrated the fittings as above explained, was sixty 
pounds. 



588 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



COMPRESSED AIR. 

YELLOW JACKET SILVER MINING CO. 

Gold Hill, Nev., June ist, 1882. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Your favor of the 25th ult., duly received. Messrs. Dunham, Carrigan 
& Co., of San Francisco, furnished us with your lap-welded pipe for our 
pumps (14-inch in diameter), and we use it for 250 feet lifts, or head ; also 
the 8-inch pipe which we use for compressed air at a pressure of about 80 
pounds. I take pleasure in stating that we never had a defective length of 
either size and were more than pleased with it, as some of the mines had 
defective pump columns of another make, which caused them much delay 
and expense. 

(.Signed) Yellow Jacket Silver Mining Co., 

Thos. G. Taylor, Supt. 



THE WESTING-HOUSE AIR BRAKE CO. 

Pittsbugh, Pa., May 4th, 1884. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I beg to state that I have just made a test of the Converse Patent Lock 
Joint with an air pressure of 100 pounds per square inch. I found it perfectly 
tight and have no doubt it would be equally tight with any pressure that 
could be put on it. 

(Signed) The; Westinghouse Air Brake Co. 

T. W. WELSH, Superintendent. 



PRESCOTT, SCOTT & CO. 

San Francisco, Cal., June 2, 1882. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We own your favor of May 25th, and in reply would state that we have 
bought (through Messrs. Dunham, Carrigan & Co.) considerable of your 
light wrought-iron pipe for different mining companies for carrying com- 
pressed air and have never had a complaint. Of course you can easily tell, 
knowing the pressure required. 

(Signed) PrESCOXT, Scott & Co. 

CHAS. i'ORMAN. 

Virginia, Nev. , June, ist, 1882. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have had your No. 8 gauge, lap-welded pipe (six-inch) in use for 
several years, for carrying compressed air down our shafts, and it has given 
perfect satisfaction. 

We usually carry from 75 to 90 pounds pressure to the square inch, and 
have frequently had the pressure run up to 120 pounds, and never have had 
a pipe burst or split. 

(Signed) Chas. Forman, Supt. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 589 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 



A. VAN SCHULZ. 

Denver, Coi,., April 17, 1S84. 

National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to three samples of Kalameined iron, Galvanized iron and 
ordinary Sheet iron, which you submitted to me for examination as to their 
usefulness for different purposes, I would say that as far as their behavior 
towards acidulated water is concerned, I would rank them in the following- 
order : 

1, Kalamein ; 2, Sheet Iron ; 3, Galvanized Iron. 

With the Kalamein in an acidulated water of ten per cent, sulphuric 
acid, it shows a loss of only fifteen one-hundredths of one per cent. 

The ordinary sheet-iron suffered one of 3.01 of one per cent, and the 
galvanized iron, as was to be expected, one of seventy one-hundredths of 
one per cent., after an exposure of only twenty minutes. In an acidulated 
water of only two one-hundredths of one per cent, strength in sulphuric 
acid, the losses in weight after an exposure of eighteen hours, were as 
follows : 

Kalamein... 12 one-hundredths of one per cent. 

.Sheet Iron ....2 and 20 " " 

Galvanized 2 and 51 " " 

Thus showing that the Kalamein is much superior to the galvanized 
iron in resisting the action of acids. By bending and re -bending a sheet of 
galvanized iron it shows a tendency to scale off, thus exposing the surface 
of the iron underneath. When once this exposure has taken place, a 
galvanic action sets in and destruction of the whole sheet follows very 
rapidly. 

The Kalamein, on the other hand, does not show the least sign of any 
scaling off after repeated doubling up and forward and backward bending. 
This seems to prove that in Kalamein the coating is more thoroughly united 
with the underlying sheet iron, forming seemingly a superficial alloy with it. 

The superiority of Kalamein for roofing purposes, for the manufacture 
of water pipes, kitchen utensils, etc., etc., seems to be obvious on account 
of the qualities shown above and to place it far above the galvanized iron, 
painted sheet iron or any other similar material coated with the substances 
now in use. 

Its lesser weight in comparison to an equal superficial surface of 



590 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



galvanized or ordinary sheet iron and its lesser cost are a further recom- 
mendation for its introduction in commerce. 
(Signed) 




1* </^ £*££?&<£& S&tz&tnr 




PROF. R. C. KEDIZE. 

The following is a copy of report of R. C. Kedzie, Professor 
of Chemistry, Michigan State Agricultural College, with the ex- 
ception of a few lengthy descriptions of detail and methods of 
tests omitted. 

Lansing, Mich., Sept. 30th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I herewith present my report of the results of experiments, extending 
through five months, to determine the power of different kinds of metallic 
water pipes to withstand the action of various 1 solutions and natural waters. 
These experiments were planned by Mr. Manby, of your works, and have 
been carried out under my personal observation at every s*:age. 

The tubes employed in these experiments were of wrought-iron and 
cast-iron, variously protected on their surface, as follows : 

1. Wrought-iron, Plain. 

2. Wrought-iron, Silvertiu-Kalamein. 

3. Wrought-iron, Silvertin Kalamein and Asphalted. 

4. Wrought-iron, Galvanized (Zinced-Iron). 

5. Cast-iron protected by tar. 

6. Wrought-iron, Kalamein, from former experiments. 

The action of the various solutions on the different tubes is given in the 
percentage loss of material in each tube for the period of experiment (5 
months). 

The results disclosed by weighing on a delicate chemical balance are 
striking. The sulphuric acid and salamoniac were soon exhausted in the 
case of all the tubes except those alloyed with the Silvertin-Kalameiu. 

The solutions in the case of both series of the Silvertiu-Kalamein main- 
tained almost undiminished strength. 

In every instance save one the Silvertin-Kalamein, whether alone or 
coated with asphalturn, stood the test satisfactorily, and the bright appear- 
ance of the tubes was more convincing than any percentage statement can 
show by loss of weight. The exception referred to was in No. 6, and this 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 



591 



result seemed accidental, as it was only at one place where the corrosive 
action took place. 

To test the combined action of soil and sewage, a set of tubes were 
buried in the soil at the mouth of a sewer and left for five months. On 
recovering these tubes and washing them in a stream of water, the appear- 
ance of the tubes was significant. The Silvertin-Kalamein tube was as 
bright as when first buried and had lost only 0.03 of one per cent, of its 
original weight. The Asphalted Silvertin-Kalamein was entirely unchanged 
and weighed precisely the same that it did when first buried. The plain 
wrought-iron tube was rusted deeply and corroded l /z of one per cent, by 
loss of weight. The galvanized iron-tube was strongly corroded, and it was 
very difficult to remove the dirt which had rusted in, without removing the 
metal at the same time. The cast-iron tube was much rusted at the ends. 

The power of Silvertin-Kalamein tubes to withstand the action of soil, 
water and rain was most satisfactory and in marked contrast with the iron 
tubes. This was especially true of the Silvertin-Kalamein coated with 
asphaltum. 

In submitting the results of this experimental investigation I trust they 
will be as satisfactory to you as they have been to me. 
(Signed) 




C. E. MAKTBY. 

McKEESPORT, Pa., July 6, 1S83. 
National Tube Works Co. 

With regard to the piece of cast-iron pipe you gave me for analysis : I 
find it high in phosphorus, 0.95 per cent., and this amount would cause 
great weakness of strength of metal, particularly if the casting was in the 
least imperfect from the sand. 

The fracture was not amiss, though in a few places I could see the metal 
had not properly mixed and the grain showed a bluish tinge. 

I am still making further tests for silicon ; the sulphur is about the 
usual amount and rather low for foundry iron. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 



National Tube Works Co. 

On further examination of the section of broken cast-iron pipe which 
gave out and caused the damage on Fifth Street, McKeesport, I form the 
same conclusion as rny previous reports and that is that phosphorus is the 
sole mischief of bad metal in this particular pipe. 



592 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The usual amount of phosphorus in good quality of No. 3 foundry iron 
averages 0.3, while that found in this cast-iron pipe was 0.95. For com- 
parison I submit the following : 

Hot Blast— 
Broken Pipe. Good Quality of No. 3. 

Phosphorus . 95 Phosphorus 0.3 

Sulphur 0.04 Sulphur 0.03 

Silicon 2 . 25 Silicon 2 . 25 

Graphite 3 . 10 Graphite 3 . 00 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 



McKEESPORT, Pa. , Jan. 27, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I beg to offer the following theoretical reason why wrought-iron pipes 
are preferable to cast-iron pipes. Cast-iron contains from two per cent, to 
three per cent, graphite and silica and these elements possess a negative 
effect in respect to metallic iron, which metal has a positive effect when in 
contact with graphite. 

The result is that as soon as cast-iron comes in contact with water there 
is a galvanic action created between the two heterogenous substances, iron 
and graphite, that a reaction commences at places where there is least resist- 
ance, consequently local upheavals of iron oxide are noticed at various dis- 
tances, which in a short time, comparatively speaking, become immense 
deposits of iron oxide with organic matter derived from ;the water and also 
from the presence of carbonic acid and air held in solution by all waters. 

Even distilled water becomes impure from the absorption of these gases 
after a few hours exposure to the atmosphere. The sedimentary deposits 
alluded to are better known as tubercular accretions, which resemble a 
fungus in their growth and so sure are they in growth, that it requires 
merely the lapse of time to ascertain the mischief, but too late for a remedy, 
as the pipe will become actually choked with deposit growth and thus reduce 
the area and pressure of water flow. 

Mr. Boyd tells me of an instance on record which happened in Boston, 
where cast-iron pipe 24 inches in diameter, had, from the continued action 
of acid water, become changed into graphite and silica, and fully half the 
iron had disappeared from the pipe. 

Here is an instance substantiating the theory of galvanic action between 
graphite and iron in contact. It was also noticed by Mr. Boyd that a mere 
shell, resembling the original pipe, remained ; the substance was no longer 
metallic, but consisted of graphite and silica, with merely an outside shell 
of iron, which in itself was incapable of resisting high pressure and which 
pipe evidently proved worthless very soon. 

In the above instance it was noticed that fully three-fourths of the 
thickness of iron had disappeared and was replaced, as it were, by graphite 
or plumbago. It is very evident that this peculiarity remained a mere mys- 
tery and curiosity unexplained in the hands of the foreman. 

Wrought-iron, on the other hand, is free from graphite, and conse- 
quently no tubercular fungus can possibly make its appearance. This fun- 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 593 



dameutal fact why wrought-iron is superior to cast-iron must be obvious to 
engineers and others familiar with the above causes and effects. 

Of course there are numerous mechanical advantages in favor of 
wrought-iron, but it is my object to restrict these remarks solely to the 
chemical advantages of wrought-iron as compared with cast-iron. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 

McKeesporT, Pa., Nov. 12, 1SS6. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Supplementary to my former report upon the merits and durability of 
Kalamein, when applied to wrought-iron pipe, allow me to add a few further 
remarks progressive with my experience since its introduction by the Na- 
tional Tube Works Co. 

My observations with Kalamein, extending over three years,' have been 
in a chemical, mechanical and sanitary point of view, all of which I shall 
endeavor to speak about separately in their turns. 

Chemically: Under this application let the term be generally under- 
stood as comprising such forces combined as corrosion, solubility and in- 
crustation or precipitation, all of which belong to chemical laws as now de- 
fined in science. Those metals which are insoluble in any single acid are 
defined negative, or non-corrosive, but on the other hand metals soluble in 
any single acid are found to be positive, or corrosive. The question as it 
now stands is, to which principle does Kalamein belong ? The answer is, 
iron being positive to Kalamein, the latter is found to be negative to the 
former, and consequently Kalamein will not corrode in presence of iron. 
So, also, iron cannot corrode if covered completely by its negative alloy, 
hence Kalamein is fully capable of becoming a perfect protection against 
the corrosive elements to be occasionally found in water. 

Mechanically: Under this heading let it be granted that Kalamein is 
as flexible as tin, and being alloyed to the surface of iron similar to tin, it 
cannot be scaled off or become separated from the iron when it has once 
become incorporated with the iron, and in this respect Kalamein stands per- 
fect tests. 

Sanitary : This subject is of much importance, and therefore requires 
much reflection and careful explanation so as to be fully comprehended. 
Lead service pipe is used freely throughout the world, and I do not know 
of any direct instance where evil effects can be traced to lead, except from 
causes due to ignorance and neglect by consumers in allowing the water to 
become stagnant by imprisonment in lead pipes for several weeks, and then 
without thought to run off the water to waste, which must have become 
changed in character due to confinement in contact with ordinary lead pipe. 

In mains of Kalameined iron pipe it becomes an impossibility for lead 
to enter the water, due to the fact that the atoms of lead composing a por- 
tion of the alloy being so perfectly encased by the tin, which element is so 
largely compounded in the Kalamein alloy, and therefore imparts a nega- 
tive effect upon the lead, it cannot under these conditions enter the worst 
kind of water. 

Chemical analysis has not yet discovered the presence of lead in water 
purposely brought in contact with Kalamein for weeks together. This fact, 
I think, remains very encouraging in a sanitary point of view. 



594 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Lastly : In case of injury to the coating upon Kalameined pipe, due to 
rough handling previously to the fluid metal having sufficient time 
allowed for "setting hard;" such injuries, if they exist, can always be 
corrected by the asphaltum treatment which penetrates so firmly into any 
little defect in the Kalamein. Our new ingredient attributes such wonder- 
ful elasticity to asphaltum that it becomes an impossibility to shake off the 
coating by sudden vibrations. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 



McKeesporT, Pa., Sept. nth, 1888. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The following is my brief report relative to a piece of wrought-iron 
taken from a 9 mile line of 22-inch riveted pipe, working under a head of 
530 feet, and having been in the ground 13 years at the mines north of San 
Francisco. Sample submitted by T. W. Brooks. 

On making my inspection of this piece of iron, I find it is in good con- 
dition, and as perfect as any piece of iron just newly rolled. The iron is 
smooth, and has a uniform gauge of No. ir. I notice there is not a particle 
of rust to be found adhering to the iron. This state of preservation is un- 
doubtedly due to the protection of prime asphaltum coating. 

That metallic iron will rust in contact with water, which latter always 
contains free oxygen, air or carbonic acid gas, nature demonstrates every 
day, and no matter how perfect the iron may be, yet oxidization will show 
itself sooner or later upon unprotected iron, especially with cast-iron, due to 
the impurities therein. These impurities amount to 100 per cent, of the 
bulk of cast-iron, due to the graphite, silicon and sand, and it is therefore 
possible for the entire iron to be dissolved out whenever galvanic action 
exists in the patches destructive to cast-iron ; the result is a mere shell of 
graphite and silica, representing the original curves and thickness of the 
pipe. With wrought-iron this peculiarity of galvanic action is unknown, 
due to its purity and absence of crystallization, but to insure perfect safety, 
means are taken to prevent any disaster of this kind by defecating, even to a 
small degree, the surfaces of wrought-iron, by the use of asphaltum or any 
hard surface impervious to moisture. We have 14 years' experience to sub- 
stantiate the above statement, and, in my mind, after 14 years without show- 
ing a blemish to this iron, I consider it will be found in as good a condition 
at the end of 100 years' service as we find it present to-day. 

It would have been a matter of great interest to me to have made a ten- 
sile test and also chemical analysis, but this specimen being so small will not 
admit of doing this. If, however, we can eventually procure another sam- 
ple then it must be cut sufficiently large that a piece 15x2 inches can be care- 
fully cut out in the planing machine so as to avoid any undue strain upon 
the sample. For chemical analysis small pieces would do, but I would rec- 
ommend not less than duplicates be sent. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 

Note. — The above report is based on the following letter 

from T. W. Brooks, dated Anaconda, Montana, August 8, 1888 : 

With this mail I send you sample of iron sent to me by Mr. J. M. 

Graham, Chief Engineer of the San Diego Flume Company, San Diego, Cal. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS 595 



He sent me this piece thinking it would be of interest ; it was taken from a 
nine mile line of 22 inch riveted pipe, working under a head of 530 feet. 
The line is in a ravine about 200 miles north of San Francisco ; the line in 
question has been in for fourteen years ; this piece was cut out one year ago; 
you will observe it is in a wonderful state of preservation after thirteen 
years' service. Mr. Graham informs me that he has examined the pipe in 
many places to determine its present condition and that the iron looked as 
if it was not a week old. 



National Tube Works Co. 

Supplementary to my early views on the merits and durability of Kala- 
mein as compounded by the true formula you possess, it may be of some 
especial interest for you to have further data regarding Kalamein, relative 
to its practical uses during the past four years, since its first introduction. 

Silvertiu or Kalamein is an alloy of four metals (the greater bulk of 
which is pure tin) compounded in such a careful manner regarding their 
specific gravities, that it has proven an impossibility to disassociate either 
one of them by their respective gravities, thus proving the uniformity and 
binding-together qualities of the alloy. 

.When the alloy is melted it possesses its own characteric properties of 
penetrating the surface of clean, bright iron so efficiently that it constitutes 
what is known as "amalgam" with the iron, in which condition it becomes 
non-corrodible in the presence of waters. I further consider Kalamein the 
most perfect protection for wrought-iron as yet introduced. It will resist 
the corrosive action of acid fumes (see Prof. Mowbray's letter), better than 
any nickel-electro plated iron. 

Mostly all the waters will remain sweet and pure for months confined in 
Kalamein pipe, but there are some waters, however, which have an organic 
acid character and there are also waters bearing a mineral acid, both of 
which acids have destructive influences upon cast-iron pipe. Of course, it 
is very essential to know the chemical condition and properties of water 
before a pipe line is laid, but on the other hand it is quite impracticable to 
ascertain the true nature of the ground or soil through which the pipe shall 
have to pass for any great distance, because the geological formation and 
various strata can differ considerably and some of these soils are fatal to cast- 
iron. All risks of corrosion are overcome if the iron can be in the first 
place prepared acid proof on its surfaces. And this grand property of anti- 
corrosion you have in your extra double protected pipe, known as "Sil- 
vertin-Enamel '' and " Kalamein Asphaltum " which will fill the bill and defy 
corrosion, even in acid water bearing 15 per cent, sulphuric acid. I have 
made these tests in the laboratory and therefore I feel convinced in my own 
mind that " Silvertin-Enamel " is indestructible in the full sense of the 
word, compared with cast-iron ; that is, where cast-iron pipe is buried ip the 
ground, the pipe (in a short time in some soils) becomes perforated with 
holes, due to the corrosive influence of the exterior soils or else due to the 
water supply itself containing much dissolved carbonic acid held in its solu- 
tion. Water of this kind will not affect " Silvertin-Enamel " one particle. 

Of course, this carbonic acid 'gas is quite wholesome in itself, in fact 
conducive to health, but on the other hand most destructive to cast iron, 
and there is no doubt that this destruction is due to the big percentage of 



596 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 

graphic carbon (2% to nearly 4$) creating a galvanic action with the body of 
the iron when in contact with water, however slightly impregnated with 
acids of any kind. When acidity of the water is found to be the case any 
careful observer can notice a rusty discoloration of the water and this is 
always the case without exception. 

In a cast-iron line of water pipe it always happens that these particles 
of iron rust will subside and form a sedimentary deposit on the interior 
walls of the pipe, now generally known as a tubercular secretion and this 
fact remains indisputable. The deposit consists of hydrated oxide of iron, 
silicic acid, alumina oxide and organic matter ; this latter compound is 
capable of becoming very foul and hurtful to the water which must pass in 
conjunction with it. And also this " fungus growth " will in course of time 
obstruct the water flow very seriously. The above fact has been proven by 
curtailment of water supply by reason of the cast-iron pipe's area being 
diminished. With such facts as these before us, it must remain obvious to 
the minds of the public why protec ied wrought-iron pipe such as Kalameiu, 
has become so much sought for. 
(Signed.) 




KAIvAMEIN PIPE IN BRINE. 

I duly received the sample of Kalamein pipe, submitted by H. Park, 
accompanied with his letter dated Muskegon, Mich., November 16th, 1889, 
wherein he states that the pipe had been submerged in a bath of the strong- 
est brine which nature offered in that territory. 

The result of the test is highly complimentary to Kalameiu pipe, from 
the fact that the test was very severe. 

Upon examination of the sample submitted, I notice the truth of Mr. 
Park's statements, and the " ring of matter," to which he refers, I find is 
composed chiefly of chloride of sodium, carbonate of magnesia and carbon- 
ate of lime. The latter two salts no doubt existed in the original brine 
solution as bi-carbonates, which materials, remaining hermetically sealed 
for five years would liberate an equivalent of carbonic acid gas, and this 
reaction accounts for the fact that I find precipitate adhering to the iron in 
the form of carbonate of magnesia and lime. As a matter of further interest, 
I beg to remark that a brine composed of chloride of sodium, chloride of 
calcium and bi-carbonate of magnesia with lime will not corrode Kalamein 
pipe, although one might suppose that the liberated carbonic acid would 
show destructive effects upon plain iron, because this acid would impinge 
upon the iron for whatever period the test might be prolonged. In this 
case, I am told, the test lasted five years. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 597 



It is also a matter of fact that carbonic acid in the presence of moisture 
will attack plain iron surfaces very readily, but the case in point shows that 
Kalamein has resisted corrosion in a powerful manner. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 



Acid Tests. 
A disinterested seeker of the truth has made the following 
acid test, the result of which has been submitted to us, viz. : 

Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company, ') 
San Francisco, Cat.., November 10, 1892. \ 
Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co., New York. 

Some little time ago we learned that Mr. John L. Howard, Manager ol 
the Oregon Improvement Company, was to have the purchasing of a line of 
pipe to be laid jointly by the Pacific Coast Railway Company and a Mr. 
Marre. Mr. Howard applied to all the pipe dealers here for quotations and 
had samples of Standard Black, Dipped and Galvanized, also Matheson 
Joint and Converse Joint Kalameined, submitted to the superintendent of 
the railway and Mr. Marre. 

A short time ago we succeeded in securing the order for 10,000 feet of 
4-inch and 5,000 feet of 3-inch Converse Joint, which was shipped from our 
stock here. We hand you below copy of extract from letter of C. O. Johnson, 
Superintendent Pacific Coast Railway Company, addressed to John L. How- 
ard, Manager Oregon Improvement Co., San Francisco, under date of Octo- 
ber 25th, 1892. 

Referring to my Requisitions No. 155 and 156, would say in order to thoroughly test the 
two kinds of pipe for our Port Hartford Pipe I,ine-that is, for the benefit of Mr. Marre- 
I had a chemist here put the samples to an acid test. Four pieces of Galvanized and one 
of Kalamein were immersed in acidulated water (sulphuric acid 1 to 100) fifteen minutes 
and then exposed to a wet atmosphere for fifteen hours. 

The Kalamein pipe remained bright and free from oxidation. The four pieces of 
galvanized pipe were covered with oxidation-in some cases the outside coating being 
eaten off clean. 

In consequence of this. Mr. Marre agrees to our adopting the Converse Lock Joint Pipe 
for the main line between the two tanks. 

We will use galvanized iron for the connection between the lower tank, hotel and 
wharf. 

Referring to the last sentence of this letter, would say that instead of 
using galvanized pipe, they have concluded now to put in the entire line of 

Kalamein. 

(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co. 



GEORGE M. MOWBRAY. 

North Adams, Mass., Sept. 30th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The American Zylonite Company duly received the three-inch Kala- 
mein pipe, and it is now fixed in two of their artesian wells. I notice the 
weld of this pipe is superior to that of any iron pipe we have used hitherto, 
whilst the smoothness of the bore is remarkable and greatly increases the 
delivery. 



598 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



For our product it is necessary that there shall not be the slightest 
staiu of iron, and heretofore we have used stout copper pipe to secure us 
from this evil ; now, the Kalamein alloy relieves us from this very serious 
expense, and we find that the water passing through same as free from iron as 
that arriving through the copper tubing. Owing to the smoothness of this 
pipe it presents so much less surface for corrosion than cast-iron, that water 
conveyed equal distances, not only delivers increased volume, but there is 
so much less action on the metal, that where cast-iron would be inadmissi- 
ble on account of stain to our delicate converted fibre, which acts like a 
mordant with water containing traces of iron, your pipe delivers the very 
pure water from our artesian wells without a trace of iron stain. Our mate- 
rial furnishes a very severe test for iron corrosion, and the result is a prac- 
tical demonstration of the value of the Kalameiu pipe for conveying water 
in paper mills, etc. 

The following experiment, lasting over a year, may interest you, as 
proving its resistance to corrosive acids. 

A piece of ij^-inch Kalameiu-coated wrought-iron pipe, accurately 
weighed, was found to balance 25^^ grammes ; this was immersed in a 
mixture consisting of sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1.825, fi ye parts, and nitric 
acid sp. gr. 1.390, two parts. 
1884. 

Aug. 25 Original weight 2. Toss in Gm. 

Grammes, 25.5245. 

Sept. 13, " 25.4850; loss after 19 days immersion, 0.0395 

1885. 

Marchj, " 25.4740; lossduriug 175 " 0.0110 

Aug. 31, " 25.4150; lossduriug 177 " 0.0590 

Loss during 371 " 0.1095 

So that 394 grains lost one year less than one and two-thirds of a grain, 
or one ton of metal would lose nine and sixty-one one hundredth pounds in 
one year's exposure to these corrosive acids, if rolled into plates such as you 
use for pipe of i^ inch in diameter ; at this rate it would take 200 years to 
consume such a quantity of metal. 

For perfection of manufacture, smoothness of bore, and excellent metal, 
your iron pipe leads other manufacturers. The protection furnished by the 
alloy you term Kalamein, has enabled this company to dispense with the 
costly copper tube, in conveying water without iron stain, a very important 
gain. Paper manufacturers will appreciate these advantages. 
(Signed) 






REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 599 



OTTO WUTH. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., March 30th, 1S84. 
National Tube Works Co. 

At your request I have made exhaustive experiments in regard to the 
stability of your Kalamein-Silvertin pipes to resist the destructive influences 
of acids, salt water and alkalies, and found that diluted sulphuric acid, after 
several weeks of treatment, did not have any perceptible effect on the coat- 
ing, and this is really the only acid to be considered. 

Very dilute hydrochloric acid did but slightly attack it ; it resisted the 
action of salt water very well, also of alkaline solutions. Care, of course, 
should be taken to have the coating perfect, as on account of galvanic action, 
wherever the coating should be removed from the iron, the action of acids 
or salt water would be more destructive than on plain unprotected iron. 

The double coating with Kalamein-Silvertin and Asphaltum will un- 
doubtedly make the action of the alkalies and acids an absolute impossi- 
bility unless by mechanical means the coating should be removed and the 
iron uncovered. 

(Signed) OTTO WuTH. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 1st, 18S5. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Supplementary to my report of March 30th, as to the result of the ex- 
haustive experiments which I have made in regard to the stability of your 
water pipe, treated by the Kalamein-Silvertin and Asphaltum processes, I 
would state that I consider your pipe, when properly so treated, practically 
impervious to the action of corrosion when laid in the ground. 

Further, the result of my research enables me to conclude that your 
water and gas pipe, as above described, is superior in point of durability 
and serviceability combined, to cast-iron pipe ordinarily sold for such pur- 
poses. 

( Signed ) 



Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 15th, 1892. 
J. H. Pierce, Asst. Manager National Tube Works Co., McKeesport, Pa 
The samples of water you sent for analysis contain in 1000 parts : 

Chloride of Sodium 2076 

Sulphate of Soda 1022 

Sulphate of Lime 5094 

Carbonate of Dime 1750 

Carbonate of Magnesia 2298 

Total Solids 1.2240 

Total amount of solids over ten times as much as in our river water. 
When tested, the carbonate of lime and magnesia will be precipitated and 
if a greater part of the water is evaporated a large proportion of the sul- 
phate of lime. It may not be desirable to have the surfaces of the wrought- 



600 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



iron, cast-iron or Kalamein pipes coated with these precipitations, which, 
however, can only take place at a high temperature. 

As far as chemical actions are concerned, it is an utter impossibility, 
that the water can have any effect whatever on the iron or the Kalamein, 
the composition of which is well known to me. 

(Signed) O. WuTH. 



A. DEMPSTER, C. & M E. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 4, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In reference to the comparative merits of wrought-iron and cast-iron 
pipe, permit me to say that there can be but one objection urged with any 
degree of plausibility against the use of wrought-iron in the stead of cast- 
iron pipes, and that is the "rusting" of the wrought-iron to the same ex- 
tent in the same time as cast-iron. The one being so much thicker than 
the other, if the corrosion is equally great on both, there would be some 
cast left when the other would be entirely gone. When the wrought- 
iron can be treated so as to impart to it a quality of resistance to the cor- 
roding influences of the ground, the end is attained that will give to 
wrought-iron pipe the preference, which its better quality of material and 
comparative lightness and ease and cheapness of handling does certainly 
decide. That your Kalamein process does impart to the wrought-iron 
such "resisting quality to corrosion," there is not the shadow of a doubt. 
That, I believe, time and experience will clearly and conclusively develop. 

From an examination of the effects of that process on wrought-iron, I 
recommended the adoption and use of that pipe by the Braddock Gas 
Company, and that recommendation was based on the conviction that the 
test of time would prove the correctness of the act, and I am as firmly con- 
vinced that no mistake was made in its adoption, in preference to cast-iron, 
as I was on the day the decision was made. 

(Signed) A. Dempster. 

E. "W. T. JONES, P. I. C. 

On January 9th, 1883, Prof. Jones presented the following 
report upon a test made with a sheet-iron bowl Kalameined. 
The test was to determine officially whether there would be any 
contamination to water coming in contact with Kalamein coated 
metals. 

Distilled water has been standing in the metal coated vessel submitted 
December 12th, 1882, for six weeks. I have since tested the water. I find 
it perfectly free from metallic contamination. I am of opinion that no 
hurtful metallic contamination will occur to water from vessels so coated. 
(Signed) B. W. T. Jones, F. I. C. 

Mr. Jones is the public analysis! for the County of Stafford, 
and his office is at the Public Analyst Laboratory, 10 Victoria 
Street, Wolverhampton, England. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 601 



WM. BAILEY & SOW. 

Wolverhampton, England, Feb. 24th, 1S83. 
National Tube Works Co. 

We have tested Kalameiii plates by exposing samples of them to strong 
hydrochloric acid fumes for a month, and we find their resisting power to 
the corrosive action of such fumes very great, in comparison with ordinary 
galvanized plates ; and, in fact, to be perfect. 

(Signed) Wm. Bailey & Son, 

Horsley Fields Chemical Works. 



E. E. BTJKLINGAME. 

On submitting the two samples of pipe to the corrosive action of distilled 
water carrying one per cent, hydrochloric acid, during a period of twenty- 
four hours, the following results were obtained : 
No. 1. Kalameiued. 

Weight before treatment 9,643.5 grains. 

Weight after treatment 9,641.0 " 

Loss 2.5 grains. 

No. 2. Ordinary wrought-irou. 

Weight before treatment 10,605.75 grains. 

Weight after treatment 10,554.50 " 

Toss 51-25 grains. 

(Signed) B. F. Bitrlingame. 



More Practical Illustrations. 

Referring to the official records of the comparative tests 
made at the city of Muskegon, Mich., between the cast-iron pipe 
system in one portion of the city, and the wrought-iron pipe 
system in another portion of the city, it will be seen that the 
record of this test fully bears out the opinion of Prof. Haswell. 

The two parallel lines of water mains conveying water from 
Dall's creek, up in the Sierra Mountains, near Lake Tahoe, to 
Virginia City, Nev., form a practical demonstration of the differ- 
ence in friction between lap-welded pipe and riveted pipe. One 
line is 12-inch riveted pipe ; the other line is our 10-inch lap- 
welded screw-joint pipe. The distance is about seven miles. 

After the completion of the 10-inch lap-welded line, its 
capacity was tested as compared with the original 12-inch 
riveted pipe, and it was found to deliver nearly 2,500,000 gallons 
per day, while the riveted pipe delivered only 2,000,000 in the 
same time, under the same head and precisely the same con- 
ditions in every respect. The success of this style of pipe in 



602 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



such a case as that just cited ought to satisfy the most skeptical 
of its entire practicability, as well as its vast superiority over 
any other style. 

Regarding the test of our pipe system supplied to the town 
of Salida, Col., by the contractors and engineers, Russell & 
Alexander, they write us under date of October 4th, as follows : 

The stream thrown exceeded our calculations by 10 or 12 feet, which 
you can place to the credit of your pipe. We think there is a great differ- 
ence in favor of your Kalamein pipe over cast-iron in respect to friction ; 
just how much we are not prepared to say. 



HERMAN" SCHUSSLER, C. E. 

In Mr. Craft's report to the town of Watertown on " Water- 
Supply and Drainage," he writes respecting the opinion of Mr. 
Schussler, as follows : 

I have, furthermore, most favorable testimony from the engineer of the 
Spring Valley Water Works, of San Francisco, Cal. — Mr. Henry Schussler 
— as to the superiority of wrought-iron pipe. Hitherto they have used cast- 
iron in many cases, but mainly wrought-iron riveted pipe coated with 
asphaltum. Mr. Schussler says he put down, thirteen years ago, a riveted 
wrought-iron pipe coated in this manner, and it is as perfect to-day, inside 
and out, as when first laid. He also has had laid over seven years the same 
style of pipes, made from No. 12 and 14 gauge iron, of twenty -inch, twenty- 
four-inch, thirty-six-inch and forty-two-inch diameter, under heads of 200 to 
250 feet ; also same style of No. 14 iron forty two-inch diameter, under head 
of 450 feet. All of the above is in perfect condition, and has given no 
trouble. He is a thorough believer in wrought iron for water pipes as 
against cast-iron, and would prefer the riveted pipes, simply coated with a 
composition of asphaltum paint, to cast-iron, but since becoming acquainted 
with the lap-welded pipe made by the National Tube Works Company, he 
has resolved never to give another order for either cast-iron or riveted pipes. 
He thinks when people begin to use this seamless and perfectly protected 
pipe, find out the reduced cost of laying, handling and repairs, they will 
readily pay even twenty-five per cent, more for it than for any other kind. 
Mr. Schussler has a high reputation on the Pacific coast as an hydraulic 
engineer in the specialty of city and town systems of water supply. He not 
only acts as the engineer of the Spring Valley works, but as advising 
engineer for other cities and towns in that locality. His acknowledged 
ability and extensive experience should give great weight to the testimony 
upon the particular point under consideration. 

Mr. Schussler's decided preference for wrought-iron pipe is 
further illustrated by other records herein given, where he has 
used great quantities of Converse Joint pipe to the exclusion of 
all other classes. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 603 

HASWELL. 
In answer to an inquiry from Councilman Fitts, of Sioux 
City, Iowa, asking Chas. H. Haswell about the difference in 
frictional resistance to flow of water, between wrought and cast- 
iron pipe, he sent the following telegram, which we have on file, 
in his original handwriting : 

New York, September iS, 1883. 
To D. W. Fitis, Sioux City, Iowa. 

Difference in frictional resistance to flow of water in a line of ordinary 
spigot and faucet jointed cast-iron pipe, and a line of seamless wrought-iron 
pipe, with flush surface at connections, alike to Converse's design, is fully 
25 per cent, in favor of the latter. 

In answer to a letter which we wrote Haswell, on September 
14, 1882, he answered as follows, under date of September 18, 

1882 : 

In reply to your letter of the 14th inst., the questions submitted are 
somewhat difficult of solution, in consequence of the absence of experiments 
to determine exact results. By analogy, however, from known results from 
somewhat similar surfaces, I arrive at a solution of them sufficiently correct 
for practical estimates. 

First. — The difference in frictional resistance to flow of water of the 
ordinary cast-iron pipe and a seamless lap-welded wrought-iron pipe, of a 
range of diameters not exceeding six inches, may be safely estimated at 20 
to 30 per cent., depending upon diameter of pipe and care of construction. 
The coating of light pipe with a compound of asphaltum, oil and tar, or 
similar mixture, if well applied, would reduce the friction of flow of water 
fully 10 to 15 per cent. 

Second. — The difference in friction to flow of water between a riveted 
wrought iron pipe and a seamless wrought-iron pipe would be fully 30 to 40 
per cent. The difference in friction between a line of ordinary spigot and 
faucet jointed cast-iron pipe, and a line of seamless wrought-iron pipe, with 
a flush connection alike to the Converse joint, would be fully 25 to 35 per 
cent., and the difference, if riveted wrought-iron pipe was substituted for 
the cast-iron, would be 35 to 45 per cent. 
(Signed) 






New York, September 19th, 1892. 
E. C. Converse, General Manager National Tube Works Co., New York. 

At the instance of the National Tube Works Company, I address you in 
relation to your Converse Patent L,ock Joint, and in consequence of the 



604 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



great utility of such an instrument I submit the following for your con- 
sideration : 

In my book " Haswell," I give the details of operation or construction 
of a few selected articles of manufacture which I consider exponent of their 
class, and I give them without any display in type, language, or appearance 
of an advertisement, and confine to but one article or manufacture of the 
kind. See pp. 138-142, 162-163, 738, 887, 956, &c, &c. 

I would not insert an inferior article at any price practical of attain- 
ment, as the character of my book is superior with me to any temporary 
profit. 

(Signed) Chas. H. Haswell. 



Charles H. Haswell, author of the well-known engineer's pocket-book, 
is in the 84th year of his age, and is still in active practice as a civil and 
mechanical consulting engineer, and is also a City Surveyor of New York. — 
From the Engineering News, May nth, 1 893. 



TRAUTWIKTE. 

In a recent edition of this celebrated engineer's book, espe- 
cial mention of our Converse Lock Joint wrought-iron pipe, for 
water and gas works systems, is made. Trautwine wrote us: 

I ask for full data in order that my remarks, although they cannot be 
long, may be as full as possible and correct. Pipes for water works are, of 
course, a little off the line for a railroad engineer's book, and I have, there- 
fore, made no special endeavor in that direction, or much less than in 
others ; still, so important a feature as your pipe should have been noticed 
in my former edition, if anything was to be said about pipes. With present 
space and time I trust I may be able to do justice to the subject. 

Under date of January 13, Trautwine encloses a copy of an 
article which he prepared and which will appear in the next 
edition of his book : 

The following sizes of lap-welded wrought-iron pipe are made by the 
National Tube Works Company, of McKeesport, Pa., and fitted with their 
Converse Lock Joint ; oue end of each length has a lock joint permanently 
attached (leaded) to it at the works, before shipping. The weights per foot 
include these joints ; weight of lead per joint given is that required to be 
poured in laying the pipe, or that for one side only of the joint : 

(Here follows the schedule.) 

The pipes are tested to 500 pounds per square inch, or higher if desired. 
They furnish them either coated with Asphaltum or with Kalamein ; also 
furnish them Kalameined and then coated with Asphaltum. Kalameining 
consists of incorporating upon and into the body of the iron a non-corrosive 
alloy, largely composed of tin ; the surface thus formed is not fractured by 
blows or by bending the pipe, either hot or cold. The joint or coupling is 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 605 

of cast-iron, and has internal recesses which receive and hold lugs put on 
the outside of each length of pipe near each of its ends, and the joint is 
then poured with lead in the usual way, either with clay collars or with a 
special pouring clamp furnished by the company. This clamp resembles 
the jointer, except that it is in two ridged semi-circular pieces, connected 
tegether with a hinge joint, furnished with handles like those of a lemon 
squeezer, and has a hole in one side for pouring. The coupling recesses form 
a flush inner surface with the pipe at the joint, thus avoiding much of the 
resistance of cast-iron pipes to flow. For cases where it may be necessary 
to make frequent changes, the couplings are me.de in two pieces, which are 
bolted together by flanges. Wrought-iron for pipe has the great advantage 
over cast-iron of lightness, toughness and pliability. Its lightness renders 
it easily to handle and cheaper per foot, notwithstanding that its cost per ton 
is about 25 per cent, greater. It is not liable to breakage in transportation 
or from rough handling, and it may be bent to angles up to about twenty- 
five degrees ; it therefore requires no special-bend castings for special angles. 

T. Trautwine. 



J. T. FANNING, C. E. 

This engineer, on folio 470 of his treatise on " Water Sup- 
ply Engineering," states that "the metal of water pipes should 
be tough and elastic and have great tenacity." In speaking of 
cast-iron pipe, he says : 

" In our formula given for thickness of cast-iron pipe, it will be remem- 
bered that we were obliged to add a sufficient thickness to enable the pipes 
to be safely handled. It is expensive to freight this extra metal a hundred 
or more miles and have to haul it to the trenches and swing it into place, 
and at the same time to submit to the breakage of from three to five per 
cent, on account of the brittleness." 



J. JAMES R. CROES, C. E. 

Extract from his letter dated New York, Feb. 10th, 1885, 
concerning Converse Joint pipe : 

New York, Feb. 10, 1S85. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I have been very favorably impressed with the pipe, from examination 
made myself and the testimony of others. 

(Signed) J. James R. Croes, C. E. 



"WALTER S. JARBOE. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., September 23d, 1884. 
In reply to your inquiries, I would say I have tested a four-inch Con- 
verse L,ock Joint to a pressure of 175 pounds per square inch, with natural 



606 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



gas, and found it did not leak at all. As natural gas, as compared with 
manufactured gas, is more volatile and is used under much greater pressures, 
I consider a joint that will hold this gas to be perfectly safe and tight, 
whether used for natural or manufactured gas. I consider the Converse 
Pock Joint the best lead joint for gas mains I have ever seen. 

(Signed) Waiter S. Jarboe, 

Natural Gas Engineer. 



BOOTH & FLINN. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. iSth, 1886. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In accordance with your request I send you a memorandum of specifica- 
tions which I think would be a good thing for you to have adopted when 
parties purchase Converse Joint Pipe. 

The ditch to be excavated to a sufficient depth to allow three and one- 
half feet of covering on pipe when laid. A good solid piece of two and 
one-half inch plank to be laid under each end of pipe with wedges driven 
underneath pipe on plank. When joint is run, and before being calked, 
the spaces underneath pipe and around pipe to at least a distance of one 
foot above the top of the pipe, between the joints of the pipe, and within 
three feet of the joint, to be thoroughly tamped before any calking is 
done. When the joint has been calked and tested at whatever pressure 
may be deemed necessary, the space underneath the pipe at the joint, and 
around on top of the pipe at the joint to be thoroughly rammed. This we 
have discovered to be a very important matter. 

By ramming the earth thoroughly around the pipe before it is calked 
we find it prevents any movement in the pipe which might be occasioned 
by the calking or handling, and also prevents a sinkage, no matter how 
slight, which would make considerable leakage. 

Please hurry up our ten-inch and twelve-inch pipe for Wheeling. 
(Signed) Booth & Fi<inn, 

General Contractors. 



BOTJLTON & DOUBLEDAY. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. 10th, 1883. 
National Ttibe Works Co. 

We have carefully examined the Converse Patent Pock Joint pipe for 
conveying gas, oil or water under pressure and have seen tests made which 
convince us that the joint is a very excellent one under high pressure, for 
the purposes named. 

The lightness of this pipe and the facility with which it is joined to- 
gether, permit of economical handling and rapidity in laying, while it is 
sufficiently strong to withstand very high pressure. 

(Signed) GEO. BOUETON, 

John W. Doubeeday, 

General Contractors. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 607 



FRED GWINNEK. 

ALLEGHENY City, Pa., Oct. iSth, 1S87. 
National Tube Works Co. 

It occurs to me that it might be gratifying for you to know that I most 
heartily agree with the opinion expressed by all others who have seen and 
used your Converse Patent L,ock Joint Pipe, that it is the best pipe and joint 
in use, especially for convejdng natural gas. 

The ease with which it can be handled and laid and the excessively 
high pressure it is capable of withstanding, surely place it in the lead. The 
flush inside of the joint places it ahead of other pipe in the matter of re- 
duced friction, and, therefore, greater delivery of gases, oils or waters, and, 
of course, to a still greater advantage over cast-iron pipe with its brittle iron, 
rough and uneven surface of both pipe and joint 

Nothing pleases me better than to have a line of your Converse Patent 
Lock Joint Pipe to lay, for I can make tight joints, and am not afraid of 
high pressures. I appreciate the advantages of deflecting the joint and with 
short lengths I can get around rough places which would otherwise require 
special fittings. I have seen Converse Patent Lock Joint Pipe used suc- 
cessfully under pressures which would have caused loss of life had cast-iron 
pipe been used. 

Wishing you continued success with Converse Pipe, believe rne, 

(Signed) Fred. Gwinner, General Contractor. 



The following is an opinion given by Mr. Thos. W. Brooks 
of San Francisco, Cal., upon the merits of wrought-iron pipe. 
Mr. Brooks is an engineer of great experience ; has had much to 
do in connection with planning and constructing water and gas 
works systems on the Pacific Coast, and his argument would 
indicate that he is thoroughly conversant with the subject under 
consideration. We give his opinion entire : 

The question is often asked, ' ' Why has not wrought-iron pipe been 
used more extensively in water works distribution system?" To this I 
would reply, that such a condition has existed on account of the excessive 
first cost over that of baser and cheaper materials. Until lately in this 
country, that is within the past eight or nine years, wrought-iron pipe 
making has been somewhat of a specialty. The capital required to erect 
pipe mills and to stock them, and the further capital required to operate 
them has confined the business of making wrought-iron pipe to a compara- 
tively few concerns. The fluctations in this class of pipe have been much 
greater than with any other class of pipe, especially cast-iron, and I am not 
aware of any attempt ever having been made on the part of wrought-iron 
pipe manufacturers to compete with cast-iron pipe until the National Tube 
Works Company turned their attention to the matter. That company was 
the first to make a specialty of a class of wrought-iron pipe adapted to 
water works systems. 

The Converse Lock Joint was first invented, then followed the coating 
treatment of the pipe to prevent corrosion, then, what has since proved to 



608 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



be " a perfect device for tapping," and, as has been said, " wrought-iron 
pipe entered the field fully equipped in first cost and adaptability for water 
works and for gas works systems." 

Carrying Capacity of Pipe. 

In this respect Kalamein pipe fitted with the Converse Joint excels any 
pipe in the market. You are well aware that small obstructions, irregulari- 
ties in diameter, roughness of surface, etc., greatly hinder the flow of water 
in pipe. Trautwine says (page 291), " It is well to allow from one-half inch 
to one inch, or more (depending upon the character of the pipe), to each 
diameter, for deposits and accretions in cast-iron pipe." 

Mr. L,. Battin, C. E., of Elizabeth, N. J., recently read a paper before 
the American Society of Civil Engineers on the serviceability of wrought 
and cast-iron pipe. He gave descriptions of two lines of pipe laid in Eliza- 
beth twenty years ago. One of these lines was wrought-iron pipe, the other 
cast-iron pipe. They had been conveying water from the same source and 
under the same operating conditions. They were recently taken up to make 
room for larger mains. The wrought-iron pipe was found to be free from 
accretions and of full capacity, while the cast-iron pipe was badly cor- 
roded and greatly reduced in size. The truth of this author is fully sub- 
stantiated by " Fanning " in his tables of " Flow of Water Through Cast- 
iron Pipes." He (Fanning) says, " The difference as shown between the 
capacity of new, clean, foul, old and tuberculated cast-iron pipe, a line of 
eight-inch cast iron pipe, coated and one thousand feet long, having con- 
tinuous current through it and discharging through an open end, discharged 
but two-thirds as much water under the same pressure at the end of six 
years as when first put down. This line is in operation at a coal mine near 
Pittsburgh." I believe I am very fair in saying that the Kalamein pipe 
will, under similar circumstances, deliver fully ten per cent, more water 
than cast-iron pipe. 

At the annual meeting of the Western Gas Association, held in St. 
Louis, Mo., May 21st, 2 2d and 23d, 1890, the following opinions were 
read: (They will be found on page 12 of the proceedings, or, more prop- 
erly, in the paper presented by Eugene Printz, Esq., Superintendent of the 
Zanesville Gas Eight Company, of Zanesville, Ohio.) 

Friction. 

From Prof. John C. Trautwine we have this opinion : 

" As the Converse Joint produces an absolutely smooth interior, reduc- 
ing friction to a minimum, the increased flow and delivery of gas will be 
readily appreciated. The cast-iron pipes themselves are not cast perfectly 
straight or smooth, or of uniform diameter, and irregular swellings produce 
eddies and retard the flow. Under the most favorable circumstances, there- 
fore, it is expedient to make the diameter of cast-iron pipe, even for tem- 
porary purposes, sufficient to discharge at least twenty per cent, more than 
the quantity actually wanted, and still greater allowance should be made in 
permanent pipes. Natural and manufactured gas mains are usually for per- 
manent lines." 

On the same page will be found the following from Prof. Haswell : 

The difference in friction between a line of ordinary spigot and bowl- 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 609 



jointed cast-iron pipe, and a line of seamless wrought-iron pipe with flush 
connections alike to the Converse Joint, would be fully twenty -five to thirty- 
five per cent." 

It is true that Kalamein pipe is outside diameter. However, the reduc- 
tion of area is small and is offset by the smoothness of the finish ; straight 
and cylindrical pipe and flush connection at the joint. I think, therefore, 
that in the face of the opinions of Professors Trautwine and Haswell, 
together with my own experience, that I was (as I stated above) fair in 
saying, that the Kalamein pipe will, under similar circumstances, deliver 
fully ten per cent, more water than cast-iron pipe. Ten per cent, additional 
to each million gallons would be sufficient to supply one thousand one 
hundred persons. 

Hemp in Joints. 

In 12-inch cast-iron pipe, one-half pound of packing is put into each 
joint to prevent lead from running through and into the pipe. In one mile 
of pipe there would therefore be 220 pounds of hemp. This hemp, being in 
contact with the water, soon becomes rotten and foul, and it is at the joints 
that the growth of algae and fresh water conferva first makes its appearance. 
It is well known that this decaying hemp or packing assists the growth of 
these submerged plants. 

The fact that so many efforts have been made and are still being made 
to stop this growth, is sufficient to prove that water containing it is not 
potable. The Converse Joint is made without the use of packing of any 
kind, and is perfectly smooth throughout and will not permit of any such 
accumulation as developed in cast-iron pipe. 

Tapping. 

Objections are frequently made to the method of tapping wrought-iron 
pipe with saddle and band. There cannot possibly be any well-founded ob- 
jection to the use of the National Tube Works Company's improved service 
clamp. These clamps are made of malleable iron to fit the pipe perfectly. 
With saddle and band connection can be made in one-half the time required 
to drill and tap cast-pipe. In tapping Kalamein pipe you have but one- 
third the thickness of iron to drill through that you would have in cast-iron 
pipe. The National sendee clamp comes ready for the corporation cock to 
be screwed into, while on cast-pipe the drilling and tapping must be done 
in the ditch, under pressure. By the use of the service clamp much larger 
holes can be tapped. Clamps are always used in cast-iron pipes when 1^- 
inch or 2-inch holes are to be drilled in 6-inch or 8-inch pipe, and these sizes 
are frequently needed for hotels, livery stables and elevators. It is cus- 
tomary to use saddle and band at all times when tapping large holes in cast- 
iron pipe. Tapping these holes weakens them very much, and in addition 
to this, the corporation cocks are tapered, and when screwed into the cast- 
iron pipe the effect is similar to that produced by driving in a taper pin. 
The weakening of the pipe by the drilling of these large holes and the 
strain continually exerted by the corporation cocks would leave the cast-iron 
pipes very weak at such point, and any settling of the pipe or sudden ram 
would result in the bursting of the pipe at such a point. With the National 
service clamp— as used on Kalamein pipe==much larger holes, can fee- tapped, 



610 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



and in tapping the pipe is strengthened by saddle and band, which encircles 
the pipe and which fits the holes neatly. This is the case with all sizes of 
holes and clamps. 

In describing the National Tube Works Co.'s appliances, Trautwine 
says — see page 294. 

" The Co. furnish 'special service clamps' and tapping machines for 
attaching service pipes to mains. This may be done while the main is 
under pressure. The service clamp, which, before the main is tapped, is 
attached to it by means of a U-bolt, and which remains permanently so 
attached after the tapping. The clamp has a tapped cylindrical opening 
through it, into which the corporation stop is screwed before the pipe is 
tapped. The drill of the tapping machine passes through the stop and 
through the cylindrical opening in the clamp, and drills through the side 
of the main." 

Strength of Pipe. 

In the use of wrought-iron lap-weld pipe, the question of pressure is a 
certainty. Every year there are recorded new accounts of the bursting of 
cast iron pipes. A few months ago a 16-inch cast-iron main burst in Bos- 
ton, Mass., causing great damage and a water famine for a few days, as it 
emptied all the water in the reservoir, the pumps at the time undergoing 
repairs, 

On the 1 6th of June, of the present year, a 30-iuch cast-iron pipe burst 
in Ashton, England, with a most destructive result. The fracture extended 
entirely through the twelve-foot section of pipe, the damage in this case 
being very great. The foundations of several valuable buildings were 
washed away, and the buildings became total losses. 

At Helena, Montana, a line of 12-inch cast-iron pipe was put in the new 
works. This was under the head of 4S0 feet. This cast pipe was extra 
heavy, being 100 pounds per foot. There was one mile of this pipe, and 
after a period of six weeks of service there had been five lengths of the pipe 
burst. These burst cast-iron pipes were replaced with Kalamein pipe of 
standard gauge, which has withstood the strain, while the cast-iron pipe 
continues to break at different places. If wrought-iron pipe does burst, 
comparatively little damage results, as it gives way only sufficiently to 
relieve the pressure, while the burst in cast-iron pipe is always serious, from 
the fact that the iron is so brittle that not a piece of it will hold together at 
the point of fracture, and a line is often broken squarely in two. All 
these arguments that I give you are bottom facts, and you may rely upon 
them. 

The Contra Costa Water Co. (supplying Oakland) have been using cast- 
iron pipe for twelve years. They recently laid 6,000 feet of 4-inch and 6,000 
feet of 6-inch Converse Joint Kalamein pipe. This is laid on the principal 
streets in Oakland, and they are about to place their order for 8-inch and 
10-inch pipe, which will be the Kalamein, fitted with Converse joint. 

Mr. William Ripley Nichols, Professor of the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology, has just issued the most complete work on water supply 
that the writer has ever seen. From a mechanical and sanitary point of 
view, I doubt whether it has an equal. The following are mainly extracts 
from this book. Under the head of corrosion he states : "Although there 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 



611 



are some waters which experience has shown to have almost no action on 
cast-iron, with most waters such pipe soon begins to rust. The rust often 
begins at numerous isolated points, forming tubercles which increase in 
size, become merged together, and finally, aided by the action of sediment 
from the water, will nearly choke the pipe. The presence and growth of 
deposits of iron rust have a very serious effect on the flow of water, and it 
becomes necessary to remove the deposit by scraping. Several special 
devices have been invented for this purpose." 

The following figures will show the effect of accumulation of rust in 
diminishing the capacity of pipes and flow of water. These figures are the 
result of observations recently taken in Aberdeen, Scotland : 



Years 

in 

Use. 


Character. 


DlAM. 


Amt. in Cubic Inches 

of Rust per 

Yard in Length. 


Percentage of Space 

Occupied by 

Rust. 


14 


Uncoated. 


5" 


180 


25-4 


15 


Coated. 


7 „ 


190 


13-7 


16 


Coated. 


10" 


240 


8.4 



The same author gives the following data relative to the flow of water 
through pipe before and after cleaning : 



Diameter. 


Years In 

USE. 


Gallons per Minute 
Before Cleaning. 


Gallons per Minute 
After Cleaning. 


A" 


29 


69 


115 


l" 


26 


65 


130 


n// 




26 


35 


220 



You will notice from these tables that coating cast-iron pipe does not 
afford absolute protection from rust. 

The Boston Water Board reports that the use of hemp in joints gives an 
unpleasant taste to the water, and recommends that some action be taken 
to avoid it. 

The River Pollution Commission of Massachusetts recommends the 
joints of large mains be pointed up on the inside with Portland Cement to 
prevent the water from coming in contact with hemp or jute in joints. 
This, in a measure, corroborates my previous argument on this point. 

After referring to the question of corrosion, I call attention to the fol- 
lowing data, presented to the Water Board of Halifax, N. S. The Board 
asked for bids for cleaning water pipe, and received tenders as follows : 

$ 750.00 per mile for 3-inch. 
2,000.00 per mile for 5-inch. 
4,000 00 per mile for 12-inch. 



612 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Mr. Keating, C. E., of Halifax, also a member of the American Society 
of Civil Engineers, has invented an apparatus for removing incrustations 
from the inside of cast-iron water pipes. This apparatus was recently used 
in cleaning the distribution mains of the Halifax water works. The fore- 
man of the Water Department states that the scraper removed incrustations 
from one-half to one inch in thickness, and that the pressure at the hy- 
drants increased from 15 to 25 pounds, and in one case 63 pounds per square 
inch. 

I have gone into details much farther than I intended at the outset. I 
trust, however, that the data presented will be sufficient to prove the sincer- 
ity of my argument — that lap-welded wrought-iron pipe fitted with the 
Converse Patent Lock Joint and protected from corrosion by Kalamein 
alloy (as manufactured by the National Tube Works Co. only), is better 
adapted for water works distribution systems than any other class of pipe 
heretofore placed upon the market. I would therefore recommend the 
award of the contract to the National Tube Works Co. in accordance with 
their proposition. 

Thos. W. Brooks. 



GEORGE H. BROWNE, C. E. 

Pittsburgh Water Department. 

Superintendent of Water Works, 

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 3d, 1885. 

National Tube Works Co. 

I have no hesitation in asserting that wrought-iron pipes are far supe- 
rior to cast-iron for conveying water at either high or low pressures, if cor- 
rosion can be prevented by the application of some good coating. To pro- 
tect the outer surface is comparatively simple, but to protect the inner sur- 
face will require some metallic or other hard coating which will resist the at- 
trition of water at high velocities canying a certain amount of sand or 
silt in suspension. If this can be accomplished I think the days of cast-iron 
pipe are numbered. 

First — Because from its elastic nature and homogenous texture wrought 
iron is not subject to rupture by the sudden closing of gates, hydrants or 
valves. 

Second — The pipes possess a more smooth and even surface and will 
therefore discharge a greater quantity of water than the corresponding sizes 
of cast-iron under equal pressures and equal lengths of pipe. 

Third — Assuming the same factor of safety for similar sizes the cast-iron 
is necessarily heavier and more difficult to handle. 

Fourth. — Cast-iron possesses so much of— what I shall term for want of 
better expression — innate " cussedness," that in many cases it is utterly un- 
reliable. 

Fifth. — Wrought-iron, as far as my experience goes, even if unprotected, 
does not seem to assimilate with sediment in oxidizing and forming tuber- 
cles, which in cast-iron frequently close the pipe in a comparatively short 
period, even with the best coatings heretofore applied. 

None of the above statements, I think, require any argument in their 
support, except probably the second, Experiments made by Mr. Adams 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 613 



showed a loss of thirty-three per cent, due to rough pipes. However, I am 
not aware that any statement was made conveying an idea of the roughness 
of the pipes experimented on, and therefore submit the following theoreti- 
cal deduction in order to give some idea of the effect of inequalities of sur- 
face on the flow of fluids : 

Take Eytelwein's formula, v=50.93y / RI, when R=mean radius and 
I = fall per foot. 

L,et a = area of water in pipe. 

F=fall. 

L=line of contact with water and pipe. 

1= length passing through in a certain time. 

w= weight of a unit of volume. 

h= height of irregularities in pipe. 

v= velocity. 

g= gravity. 

The influence of gravity would produce an increased velocity, and an 

increased velocity an increased friction, until finally a uniform flow, v, 

would result ; therefore, a quantity of water of the length 1 would pass 

through with the force alwF. A surface perpendicular to the water receives 

a pressure equal to ^sw, when s represents this surface and offers an equal 
resistance to the running water. If h represents the height of irregularities 
on surface, s=IJh ; hence we have the equation alwF=-^wL,hl ; therefore 
v= V ^VjF ; but |j = niean radius, and F=fall ; consequently /i/f =50.93 
or A /r ! hence Eytelwein's experiments must have been conducted in a 
channel of pipe with irregularities equal ^ s // . Now as y forms a very im- 
portant element in the formula, we can readily see the importance of 
having a smooth, evenly finished surface. Suppose, therefore, we take %." 
as the height of irregularities, then we find the formula would become 
v = 278 VET instead of v= 50.93^^1, or a loss in the flow of over 45 per 
cent. 

The above deductions may be faulty in logic, yet taken in connection 
with experiments made by thoroughly competent engineers, the theoretical 
and practical deductions harmonize so closely that the accuracy of the 
above statement seems to be established. 

By examining the following tables it will be found that comparatively 
light iron pipes are capable of resisting very heavy pressures ; in fact, that 
a pipe able to withstand a static pressure of 230 pounds per square inch, or 
a working pressure of 130 pounds per square inch, would be too light to 
handle, except with great care ; nor could the connections be properly made 
if the thickness of iron was scaled down to required pressures ; hence, by 
adding a sufficient amount of metal to enable handling and making con- 
nections properly, a large additional factor of safety is added. 

It is a difficult matter to compare the values of wrought-iron and cast- 
iron pipes, because with the first we are treating with a metal which can 
generally be relied upon and admit of calculation, but the second, on account 
of its unreliability, defies computation. The following table shows the 
thickness of cast-iron required by us under the superscribed heads of water : 



614 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



TABLE No. i. 

Weights and Thickness of Cast-Iron Pipes Used by the 
City oe Pittsburgh. 





100 FT. 


Head. 


200 FT. 


Head. 


300 FT. 


Head. 


















Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 

19 lbs. 


Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 


Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 


4 inch. 


.4224 inch. 


.4648 inch. 


21 lbs. 


.5073 inch. 


22 lbs. 


6 " 


■4436 " 


30 " 


•5073 " 


34-2 ' 






57°9 


39 " 


8 •' 


.4648 " 


39 


•5497 " 


48 ' 






6345 


57 " 


10 " 


.4861 " 


52 


•5921 " 


66.2 ' 






6981 " 


7 S " 


12 " 


•5073 " 


66 " 


•6345 " 


92 






7618 " 


101 


14 


•5285 " 


76 " 


.6769 " 


107 ' 






8254 '" 


127 " 


16 " 


•5497 " 


93 " 


.7194 " 


129 ' 






8890 " 


156 " 


18 " 


•5709 " 


in 


.7618 " 


155-2 ' 






9527 " 


188 " 


20 " 


•5921 " 


112 " 


.8042 " 


199 


1.0163 ' 


220 " 



TABLE No. 2. 

Weights and Thickness of Wrought-Iron Pipes Necessary for 
Working Pressures of 100, 200 and 300 Feet Head, Assuming 
8,000 Pounds Safe Working Strain and Ai/lowing 100 Pounds 
per Square Inch Due to "Water Hammer." 



Diameter. 


100 Ft. Head. 


200 Ft. Head. 


300 Ft. 


Head. 


Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 


Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 


Thickness. 


Wt. per ft. 


4 inch. 


.0364 inch. 


1.46 lbs. 


.0478 inch. 


1. 91 lbs. 


.0592 inch. 


2.17 lbs. 


6 " 


.0546 " 


3-34 " 


.0717 " 


4.27 " 


.0889 " 


5-3i " 


8 " 


.0728 " 


5-76 " 


.0956 ' 


7-54 " 


.1185 " 


95i " 


10 " 


.0910 " 


9- 


• 1195 


11.85 " 


.1481 " 


470 " 


12 


.1092 " 


13-05 " 


•1434 " 


17.08 " 


-1777 " 


21.21 " 


14 " 


.1274 " 


16.26 " 


.1673 ' 


23-25 " 


.2073 " 


28.89 " 


16 " 


.1456 " 


22.14 " 


.1912 ' 


30.14 " 


.2369 " 


37-7o " 


18 " 


.1638 " 


29.20 " 


.2151 " 


38.38 " 


.2665 " 


47.70 " 


20 " 


.1820 " 


36. " 


.2390 " 


47.40 " 


.2961 " 


5887 " 



However, if wrought-iron pipes were used for water lines it would be 
judicious to increase the weight above that given in the table in order to 
prevent risk in handling aud to secure better connections with each pipe and 
also with service pipes. However, connections in the latter case can be 
readily effected by means of saddles ; but I would prefer shrinking on each 
pipe three or four narrow bands. In this case it might be necessary to dig 
three or four feet along the pipe in order to strike a band, which would only 
be a trifling objection. 

There is one other circumstance that largely favors wrought-iron which 
is seldom taken into consideration, and that is the mechanical effect of 
expansion. As an illustration, let us compare the effect on the heaviest 
wrought-iron pipe, twenty inches diameter, and the same class and size of cast 
at a variation of twenty degrees temperature. The cross-sectional area of the 
first is 13 88 square inches, while the latter is 67.08 square inches, consequently 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 615 



the mechanical effect in vvrought-iron would be 44,424 pounds, but the tensile 
strength allowing 40,000 pounds as the ultimate strength of wrought-iron, 
would, for an area of 13.88 square inches, give the ultimate tensile strength 
555,200 pounds, consequently if rigidly held at the joints, the wrought-iron 
pipe would possess a factor of safety of \2%. In the cast-iron pipe, however, 
the effects of expansion would be 148,930 pounds and the ultimate breaking 
load, 1,073,280, showing a factor of safety of 7 1-5, assuming that the strain 
is perfectly parallel with the axis of the pipe, a condition which seldom 
exists, because the calking of lead joints being performed by " ungauged 
hands " must necessarily be better calked at some points than others, and, 
therefore, such a strain as the above brought to bear where the lead is not 
thoroughly calked causes a yielding at such points, and consequently 
throws a transverse, as well as a compressive or tensile strain — as the condi- 
tions may exist— which is a condition that the very nature of the metal 
forbids, and therefore renders any factor of safety a negative rather than a 
positive quantity. 

In conclusion, if the conditions first referred to can be accomplished 
then no difference of price can prevent the universal adoption of wrought- 
iron pipes. 

(Signed) 




$U^u£) Iq^^^h^GJ^f^ 





Jk£oJQyLr 



F. C. FIETKLE. 

San Barnardino, Cal., April 7th, 1890. 
National Tube Works Co. 

On the 12th day of last month I obtained four gallons of alkali water 
from a standing pool of alkali water on ground strongly impregnated with 
alkali, on the Santa Ana river bottom. The color of the water was a dark 
brown and from all appearances was charged with alkali, if not to the ut- 
most limit possible, nearly so. 

After stirring this water thoroughly, making it of the same density 
throughout, I divided it by measure into two equal parts of two gallons each, 
and as a test to ascertain that both parts were of the same density, I weighed 
both and found them to be of exactly the same weight. I then evaporated 
two gallons by means of an alcohol lamp and from the sediment thus pro- 
duced I obtained the following by chemical analysis : 



616 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Alkali 83.2 per cent. 

Sulphur. . , 4.1 " 

Chloride of Potassium 7.6 " 

Oxide of Iron , 3.9 " 

Magnesia 12 " 

On the 13th day of last month, I immersed in the remaining two gallons 
of alkali water a piece of Kalameined iron pipe two inches in diameter and 
twelve inches long. The water with the immersed pipe was kept in a glass 
vessel and no portion of the pipe was exposed to the air. 

The weight of the pipe when it was immersed was 907 grammes. On 
the 5th of April (this month ) I removed the pipe from the water ; then I 
evaporated the water by the same process as above and an analysis of the 
sediment produced showed the following : 

Alkali 80.8 per cent. 

Sulphur 4.1 " 

Chloride of Potassium 7.6 " " 

Oxide of Iron 4.2 " " 

Magnesia (Pure) 1.2 " " 

Lead 0.9 " " 

Tin 1.0 " 

Nickle 0.2 " " 

The weight of the pipe on being removed had increased to 90S. 2 grammes. 
This was due to the fact that concretions of alkali had collected upon 
the surface, and although the pipe had been partly corroded, as shown by 
the above analysis, the weight of these concretions made up for the dis- 
engaged particles, and exceed them sufficiently to cause the above increase 
in weight. 

The weight of the pipe, after being cleaned of all alkali adherent to it, 
was 905.09 grammes, a loss of 1.91 grammes for the lead, tin, nickle, and 
iron escaping into the water. 

At this rate of corrosion, it would take 30 years to consume the sample 
entirely. However, the corrosion would undoubtedly be more rapid after 
the removal of the outside, as the inside contains more iron and less of the 
non-corrosive metal or metals less rapid of corrosion than the outside ; but 
I would not undertake to say just how much more rapid the corrosion 
would be, as that can only be demonstrated by an experiment taking years 
of time. However, I am not of the opinion that it would be much more 
rapid, as a shell would tend to form from the metal already corroded, which 
would tend to arrest rather than augment further corrosion. 
(Signed) F. C. Finkxe, C. F., 

Engineer and Superintendent of Water Works. 



Extract from The Manufacturer and Builder for November, 
1892. 

O. 4612. (Kalameined pipes.) I observe the use of the term " Kala- 
meined " pipes in referring to certain specifications calling for wrought-iron 
pipes. What does the term mean? — T. C. Frankford, Philadelphia. 

A. The term "Kalameined" has reference to a patented process of 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 617 



coating iron and other metallic surfaces with a special alloy, or mixture of 
metals, by the process of dipping the cleansed objects into a bath of the 
alloy, or mixture, kept in the molten state, the process of dipping being 
similar to that of galvanizing. The mixture employed (as we now recall the 
subject) consists of tin chiefly, with small quantities of other metals. The 
coating formed has a color and luster between that of zinc and tin, whiter 
than the first, though less so than tin, and is very adherent, and is claimed 
to be more durable and less liable to deterioration than either a tin or gal- 
vanized coating, and to afford a much better protection for iron against 
oxidation than either of these coatings. 



PETER PATTERSON, M. E. 

The following report from Superintendent Patterson is 
self-explanatory : 

Enclosed please find a report of a test made of the Converse Lock 
Joint in the presence of the two well-known engineers, Mr. A. H. Howland 
and Mr. Heald, who came from Boston last week to inquire into the merits 
of the joints, as well as to the durability of the lap-welded pipe. 

As you will observe, the test, which was made on March 23d, 18S3, was 
a severe one, and the result so satisfactory that it is well worth putting on 
record. 

The size tested was 3 inches, and the joint was made on two pieces 
of pipe, 2 feet, 6 inches long, with a blank flange on the extreme ends, the 
object being not only to test the joint for a bursting pressure, but for a 
pulling strain as well. 

The pressure was first applied up to 500 pounds per square inch, and 
the joint found perfectly tight. The pressure was then increased to 800 
pounds, when it leaked slightly at one end only. The pressure was then 
taken off and the lead re-calked, and the pressure again applied, first to 500 
pounds, with a tight joint, then to 1,000 pounds with a leak so slight that 
it was hardly perceptible. The joint was then pounded with a hammer 
under the 1,000 pounds pressure, which of course increased the leak. 

The engineers were thoroughly satisfied with the test, and to prove to 
them that the joint was not strained in any manner under such a severe 
pressure, I had it broken in two, when the ends of the pipe and the lead 
were found to be in perfect condition. 

The end of each piece of pipe with the lead attached, was then cut 
off, and, with the broken joint, put in a box and shipped to their address, 
so that they have something positive to show what the joint will really 
stand. 

(Signed) P. Patterson. 

On May 22, 1883, in the presence of Mr. A. A. Dame, of 
New York City, we tested a four-inch Converse Lock Joint, 
ends flanged, which was shown perfectly tight at 1,000 pounds. 

On May 23, same year, in the presence of Mr. Henry W. 



618 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Whitney, of San Francisco, we tested a four-inch Converse Lock 
Joint, with ends flanged : 

Tight at 800 pounds. 

Leaked slightly at 900 pounds. 

Re-calked at 250 pounds. 

Perfectly tight at 1,000 pounds. 

On May 26th, 1883, in the presence of Mr. Boulton and Mr. 
Doubleday, of the Acme Gas Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., we 
tested a four-inch Converse Lock Joint pipe, with ends flanged, 
and it stood 1,500 pounds pressure without the least leak. 



T. L. GALVIN. 

Greenville;, Pa., June 7th, 1895. 
National Tube Works Co. 

The pulling apart and leaking of screwed joint lines of a good make of 
pipe are also invariabty due to non-mechanical laying of same. When the 
joint is being screwed together, the coupling should be held in same place 
as it left the mill. No hammering should be allowed on couplings, and the 
pipe should be lowered in trench carefully to avoid straining the joint, and 
where pipe does not lay on bottom of trench, a block should be used, so that 
each piece of pipe would have a bearing. No side strains on pipe should be 
allowed where trench is crooked, either on bottom or sidewise ; hot bends 
are necessary. Whenever the pipe is lowered in trench it should, with ex- 
ception of the joints, all be covered to care for the expansion and con- 
traction. 

The point I wish to make clear to your mind is that the leaks, parting 
of lines, etc., are not due to any imperfect joint nor inferior iron, but the 
careless manner in which the pipe is put together, no care being taken to 
guard against expansion and contraction, which will quickly destroy the 
most perfect joint. 

(Signed) T. T. Gaevin, 

Constructing Engineer. 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 619 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON, OR STEEL ; 

WHICH IS THE BEST MATERIAL FOR STREET MAINS? 



Paper presented by Eugene Printz, Esq., Superintendent oe the 
Zanesville Gas Light Company, Zanesville, Ohio, at the Con- 
vention of the Western Gas Association, held in St. Louis, 
Mo., May 21ST, 22ND and 23RD, 1890. 

Secretary's Office, Western Gas Association, 

Ouincy, Iee., April 16, 1890. 
Mr. Eugene Printz, Zanesville, Ohio. 

My Dear Sir : — I am in receipt of your favor of the nth, and am 
to learn therefrom that you will prepare a paper on the subject named. It 
is not too late, by any means, and I am sure that you will do the topic 
justice. It is an important one, and there is a great deal that may be said 
regarding it that will be of interest to our members. If } r ou know anything 
about the Converse Joint that is being sold by the National Tube Works 
Company, it might be well to speak of it, as the same is attracting some 
attention just at present. I trust that you will see that your paper is mailed 
to the writer not later than the first of May so that I can set my printer at 
work on it. Please let me hear from you about this. Yours very truly, 

(Signed) 



Secretary. 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON, OR STEEL. 
Which is the Best Material for Street Mains? 

In answering this question, are there not many others to be taken into 
consideration ? The particular purpose for which the main is to be used ; 
the kind of soil in which the pipe is to be laid, that is, does the ground con- 
tain any chemical combination that might be more detrimental to one kind 
of pipe than to another ; has the pipe in its manufacture been so made as to 
be able to resist the action of the destructive agents that may be in the 
ground ? Then again, the cost of the pipe and the figure at which it can be 
placed in position, and the cost of maintenance thereafter, are serious mat- 
ters for consideration. Which, of either kind of pipe, will give the least 
percentage of gas unaccounted for? 

Wrought-iron mains have some advantages not possessed by cast-iron. 
Owing to its greater strength, it will resist heavier internal pressures ; less 



620 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



liable to fracture by sudden jars or by the disturbance of its foundation ; 
can be joined together with less expense and greater speed ; has fewer 
joints and can be laid in some situations where it would be impossible to lay 
cast-iron ; but it has two disadvantages considered serious ones — the first 
cost of the pipe and the limited life, as claimed by the friends of cast pipe, 
when compared with cast-iron in many kinds of earth. 

In making comparisons as to the cost between wrought-iron screw- 
jointed pipe and cast-iron pipe, I have figured as to the price by car-loads 
delivered in Ohio. One mile of six-inch wrought-iron pipe would be three 
thousand four hundred and eighty -five dollars. One mile of six-inch cast- 
iron pipe would cost nineteen hundred and thirty dollars ; a difference in 
favor of the cast-iron pipe of fifteen hundred and fifty-five dollars per mile. 
One mile of eight-inch wrought-iron pipe would cost five thousand seven 
hundred and ten dollars. One mile of eight-inch cast-iron pipe would cost 
two thousand seven hundred dollars ; a difference in favor of the cast-iron 
pipe of three thousand and ten dollars per mile. The labor for digging and 
refilling trench would be at least twenty-five per cent, in favor of the 
wrought-iron pipe, as a trench much less in width will answer the purpose 
and no bowl or bell holes are required. The labor, lead and yarn necessary 
to lay and join eight-inch and six-inch cast-iron pipe would be about four 
hundred dollars for the one and three hundred dollars for the other per 
mile, while the labor and paint-cement to join a mile of eight-inch and six- 
inch wrought-iron screw pipe would be about one hundred and fifty, and 
one hundred and twenty dollars respectively, making a difference of two 
hundred and fifty dollars for the eight-inch, and one hundred and eighty 
dollars for the six-inch, per mile, in favor of the wrought-iron pipe. 

The labor figures and cost of pipe, on the wrought-iron pipes, are based 
on the supposition that screw-joints and standard weight pipe are used. If 
the patent leaded joints with the light weight wrought-iron pipe are used, 
the difference in the labor and lead account will be very much increased in 
favor of the wrought-iron pipe over that of the cast-iron — there being a 
saving in lead alone of twenty-eight hundred pounds for the eight-inch, and 
twenty-one hundred pounds for the six-inch pipe per mile ; and as the pipe 
is so much less in weight and a less number of joints to be made, it can be 
handled and laid with less labor and with greater rapidity. 

It is claimed by those who advise the use of wrought-iron pipe (and 
they have strong evidence to substantiate their claims), that there is less 
leakage, in fact a very large percentage less, than when cast-iron is used ; 
this we must admit would naturally be the case, owing to the more porous 
character of cast-iron ; but why there should be less leakage in the joints, 
only in proportion as there are fewer of them, we fail to understand ; a joint 
that is gas-tight ought to be as good with one kind of pipe as with another. 
But it is urged that it is impossible to make a lead joint with cast-iron pipe 
that will remain tight ; that with the continual expansion and contraction 
of the pipe, although the movement may be very light, will, with the rough 
surface of the spigot end, soon start the joint to leaking ; and that with a 
lead joint on wrought-iron pipe this is not the case, for the reason that 
while the movement may be greater, the surface of the pipe is smooth, — 
sliding easily back and forth, without tearing or disturbing the joint. 

Mains have been made of cast-iron, ever since the general introduction 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 621 



of gas for illumination (nearly three-quarters of a century), and when ex- 
amined or removed are found, with the exception of a slight coating on the 
outside, to be, as far as the texture of the iron is concerned, in as perfect 
condition as if just placed in the ground. There are, of course, exceptional 
cases, but not many, where the ground has become impregnated with some 
foreign matter, which will and does act on and destroy the cast-iron in a 
comparatively short time. 

My own experience with cast-iron for mains is limited to that of pipe 
at present used at my home. Some of it was placed in position forty-one 
years ago. We are at present, and have been every season for the last ten 
years, replacing the old lines with larger ones, and using the old ones 
again on streets where their size will be sufficient. To be sure we find many 
pipes that are imperfect in their construction, but the iron itself is as sound 
and perfect as when first cast. 

We have but very little wrought-iron pipe in use for street mains— one 
short section of three-inch, about four hundred feet long, which has been 
down ten years. It formerly did duty to convey gas on a bridge ; it was at 
that time protected from the weather and kept well painted ; last week we 
had occasion to tap it for a service connection, and we found, to our surprise, 
after the ten years' duty it was in perfect condition. 

As a means of comparison in the life of wrought and cast-iron (when 
neither are covered with a protective coating, and are equally exposed to a 
very severe test), I will cite an actual experience which happened on one of 
the short streets in our city. On this street was a two-inch cast-iron main, 
with a number of service connections, all three-quarter inch, except one, 
(an inch and a half) which conveyed gas to a machine shop ; going South 
from a certain cross street there was no difficulty whatever ; but North from 
this point we were compelled to renew the service pipes every two or three 
years. Now, for the cause of this trouble : For a number of years this 
portion of the street had carried as surface drainage the sulphur, or com- 
monly called "copperas," water from several coal mines. The street was 
paved with limestone, the spaces between the stone filled with sand, but not 
cemented with tar or pitch. The drainage from the coal mines percolated 
through the sand and saturated the ground, which was composed of a mix- 
ture of clay and gravel, in which the two-inch cast-iron main was laid. In 
eighteen years, the texture, or composition of the pipe, was so changed or 
destroyed, that the pipe, on being removed, was so soft that it could be 
shaved with a common penknife as easily as the plumbago in our lead 
pencils ; there was not strength enough in a seven-foot length to carry its 
own weight when placed upon supports at the ends You will notice the 
life of cast-iron pipe as compared with wrought in this instance, after mak- 
ing due allowance for the difference in the thickness of the metal, is as 
three and a half is to one. 

On another street we have two short lines of two-inch mains — one a 
cast-iron and the other wrought. The cast-iron has been in twenty years 
and is in fair condition ; the wrought-iron has been in only fifteen years and 
will of necessity have to be replaced in a very short time. 

In this connection, I will quote a few lines received from Mr. Cantine, of 
the Alliance Gas Light Company, Alliance, Ohio. He writes as follows : 



622 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We had a four-inch cast-iron pipe leading from our main line through the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad Company's yard to supply their ticket office and eating-house ; and, that 
after having been laid some six or eight years, we found it leaking badly. The pipe was 
extra heavy and of sufficient weight to be known as water pipe. The ground in which it 
was laid was mixed with cinders from locomotive ash pits. The action of the impurities 
in the cinders had rendered the pipe utterly worthless, it having no more strength than 
unburued clay. The process of decomposition is, or would be, much more rapid in 
wrought-irou or steel than with cast metal. The contact of one cinder no larger than a 
walnut will eventually eat its way through any pipe. 

I have called attention to these instances, in a measure, in the first two, 
to compare the life of the two kinds of pipe under the same circumstances, 
and in the first and third to show that even cast-iron may be readily destroyed 
when subjected to certain conditions. 

Will not the question be asked : Why is it, that one kind of pipe will 
last so much longer in the same kind of earth than will the other kind of 
pipe? A gentleman to whom I put this question, suggested : Is it not that 
cast-iron and wrought-iron are different in their construction, different in 
their chemical formation ? In cast-iron, the particles of iron of which it is 
composed retain their crystalline or natural shape, and contain a portion of 
carbon ; these crystals are in nature hard, bright and in a measure polished, 
and are more or less coated with graphite, depending greatly on the quality 
of the iron ; all tending to preserve the metal from oxidation. In the man- 
ufacture of wrought-iron a portion of the carbon is eliminated, rendering 
the metal softer ; the crystal or natural form is broken up ; the crystals are 
elongated or drawn out, presenting a stringy or fibrous appearance through 
the length of the material. The graphite coating or protection of the crys- 
tals is removed, rendering the pipe more open to the action of the destruc- 
tive agents. 

Again — The question is asked: Why will the same kind of pipe last longer 
in one formation of earth than in another? Have you not noticed when your 
pipe, particularly cast-iron, was buried in sand for a number of years, that a 
thin white coating impenetrable to almost anything, had formed on the out- 
side of the pipe? This coating forms to a certain thickness ; there the de- 
composition stops. Nature in this case has provided a nearly perfect and 
perpetual protector. Is not this combination of sand and iron, which is 
almost like glass in its hard appearance, silicate of iron ? And have you 
not further noticed, that where this formation does exist, there is no escape 
of gas, unless it be at the joints — the coating forming a gas-tight covering? 

On the other hand, when your pipe of either kind has been buried in 
white clay, the tendency has been to deteriorate, in many cases quite rap- 
idly. Can we not account for this in this wise? In nearly all cases white 
clay veins or banks are overlaid with coal in some form ; sulphur, in solu- 
tion from the coal, saturates the clay, comes in contact with and surrounds 
the pipe ; the sulphur having a strong affinity for iron, combines with it ; 
sulphurate of sulphide of iron is formed and the pipe is destroyed, more or 
less rapidly, in proportion to the amount of sulphur. This same action 
takes place where the pipe is exposed to coal cinders, similar to the case 
referred to in the quotation from Mr. Cantine's letter — there the free sul- 
phur in the cinder combining with the iron. 

Again — If your pipe is laid in ground so situated as to absorb, or any 
way to contain matter likely to ferment, near by, or in contact with the 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 623 

pipe, there is great danger ; for during the process of fermentation, 
carbonic acid is particularly destructive, and very persistent in its com- 
bination with iron ; once it takes hold it never releases its grip until 
it has accomplished its purpose. An example of the action of carbonic acid 
on wrought-irou is very clearly shown by the rust or pitted spots on the 
sheets of our gas-holder. We notice first a little yellow dust ; the carbonic 
acid of the atmosphere has combined with the iron, forming carbonate of 
iron. This dust, in a very short time, is oxidized, gradually becoming more 
red in color. In the meantime, the carbonic acid has moved on, and is 
working on the way to the new iron, which it will continue to do as long as 
there is any iron to be found. We have often wondered why it was that 
after cleaning and painting the sheets of our gas-holders, that in a few 
months we would find indications of rust, and that, too, right under the pro- 
tective (as we supposed) covering of paint ; but the carbonic acid was surely 
there and you cannot remove it, unless you scrape right down into the clean 
iron ; every particle of rust be removed before you can hope to be relieved 
of this troublesome destroyer of iron. 

While not exactly germain to the question we have before us, yet bear- 
ing in that direction, I have thought it might be of interest to some of our 
members to examine a section of 6-inch wrought-iron pipe which I submit 
for your inspection. This piece of pipe was in use just two years and seven 
months as a stand-pipe to convey the gas from the retort to the hydraulic 
main. You will observe that it is completely used up. In the same gas- 
works there are cast-iron stand pipes that have been in service for over thirty 
years, and from all appearances are good for another thirty years. I think 
you will agree with me in the statement that there is one purpose for which 
it is surely best to use cast-iron pipes. 

When the question is asked, " Which is the best material for street 
mains — cast-iron or wrought-iron?" we would likely answer at once, cast- 
iron. Why? Because we have been accustomed to purchase the same for a 
great deal less money ; it is cheaper, and will last longer ; and then we say 
again, we have to renew our wrought-iron services, and we do not the cast- 
iron mains. Have we not overlooked the fact that the wrought-iron services 
are less than one-half the thickness of the cast-iron mains ; that where we 
have had occasion to make renewals, the wrought-iron had been more ex- 
posed than the cast-iron. The services mostly gave out at gutter crossings, 
where the pipe was not of sufficient depth, and was exposed to air, and 
dampness, and frost. Is it not true that many of us have wrought-iron ser- 
vices in use to-day, and in good condition, that were connected to our cast- 
iron street mains, when gas was first introduced to our towns, forty, and in 
some cases sixty years ago ? We know what to expect as to the lasting qual- 
ities of cast-iron pipe. We know that with cast-iron mains the leakage of 
gas will average as much as ten per cent. This we gather from the reports 
received from a majority of the gas companies. 

Now, we will see just what is claimed, and we may say, proven, as to 
the lasting properties of wrought mains ; also, as to the leakage where they 
have been used. 

From Mr. J. B. Overton, Virginia City, Nevada, we quote as follows : 

I have to say, that the ten-inch lap-welded pipe furnished by you appears to be as good 
to-day as it was when first put down in 1875. The light eighteeu-inch pipe which I bought 



624 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



of your company in 1876 has been in constant use, and has given no trouble, nor has it 
cost a cent since laying. 

Under date of November 14, 1882, we have the following : 

In reply to yours of the 9th inst., inquiring about the lasting quality of wrought-iron 
pipe for gas mains, I would say : We put in some wrought-iron main in 1S58 ; before laying 
it, we coated it with tar and let it dry in the sun ; used tar on the threads and couplings 
freely, mixed with sand. In 1874, we had some of the same mains taken out, being too 
small to supply the consumption. In all cases the pipe was sound and clean ; all we had 
to do was to re-tar it and then re-lay it in other streets. We now have in use over eight 
miles of wrought-iron pipe from \V 2 to 4 inches in diameter, and all of it giving the best 
of satisfaction. Our leakage account will compare more than favorably with any other 
works, and we claim that -wrought-iron pipe is the cause of it. (Signed, Thomas Butter" 
worth, Rockford, 111.) 

The following is a telegram from Mr. O. P. Shaffer, Treasurer, Standard 
Gas Light Company, New York City : 

We find wrought-iron gas mains practically stop all leakage ; only leaks we have are 
on cast-iron crosses and sleeves ; leakage in cast-iron lines in this city averages fourteen per 
cent. ; ours does not exceed one per cent. 

Mr. W. W. McCleary, Superintendent Gas Company, Braddock, Pa., 
writes the following : 

Our whole gas system is composed of the Converse Light Lock Joint wrought-iron 
pipe. Is giving perfect satisfaction ; less than one per cent, leakage. 

The following extract accompanies the sample pipe from the McKeesport 
Gas Company : 

I send you a section of four-inch O. D. line of our special wrought-iron gas pipe, which 
was laid by me in 1875. We took it up in September, 18S7, and found it in as perfectly 
serviceable condition as when it was put in the ground. I must say it was a surprise for 
me to find it so perfect. Cast-iron could not have made such a record under similar 
circumstances. I have taken up cast-iron pipe from the same soils here, which had not been 
buried for nearly so long a time, and the result has just been the reverse of this. Our soil is 
a"very severe one and the showing in this case proves the durability of your coated wrought- 
iron pipe. (Signed, W. C. Neemes, Supt.) 

I have here a report from Mr. C. B. Manby, Chemist : 

The following is my brief report relative to a piece of wrought-iron taken from a nine 
mile line of 22-inch riveted pipe, working under a head of 530 feet, and having been in the 
ground during thirteen years at the mines North of San Francisco. Sample submitted 
by T. W. Brooks. 

On making my inspection of this piece of iron, I find it is in good condition, and as 
perfect as any piece of iron just newly rolled. The iron is smooth, and has a uniform 
gauge of No. 11. I notice there is not a particle of rust to be found adhering to the iron. 
This state of preservation is undoubtedly due to the protection of prime asphaltum coat- 
ing. That metallic iron will rust in contact with water, which latter contains free oxygen, 
air or carbonic gas, nature demonstrates every day ; and no matter how perfect the iron 
may be, yet oxidation will show itself sooner or later upon unprotected iron, especially 
with cast-iron, due to the impurities therein. These impurities amount to 100 per cent, 
of the bulk of the cast-iron, due to the graphite, silicon and sand; and it is, therefore, 
possible for the entire iron to be dissolved out whenever galvanic action exists in patches 
destructive to cast-iron ; the result is a mere shell of graphite and silica, representing the 
original curve and thickness of the pipe With wrought-iron this peculiarity of galvanic 
action is unknown, due to its purity and absence of crystalization ; but to insure perfect 
safety, means are taken to prevent any disaster of this kind, defecating even to a small 
degree the surface of wrought-iron by the use of asphaltum, or any hard surface im- 
pervious to moisture. We have fourteen years' experience to substantiate the above state- 
ment, and as the iron does not show a sign of blemish after the fourteen years' service, I 
consider it will be found in as good condition one hundred years hence as it is to-day. 
(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 625 



Is it not a serious question, " Which is the best — wrought-iron or cast- 
iron for street mains?" The wrought-iron costing, in the first place, from 
fifty to one hundred per cent, more than does the cast pipe. (This differ- 
ence is greatly reduced in proportion as you get farther away from the points 
of manufacture. The freight rates, a very important item being very much 
in favor of wrought-iron, as the same car will carry many more feet of the 
light wrought-iron than it will of the heavy cast pipe.) The wrought pipe 
does not cost near so much to lay, and the saving iu leakage will in a very 
short time, balance the extra expense for the wrought-iron pipe. The most 
important question appears to be, will the wrought pipe last ? On the other 
hand, why not have our cast-iron pipe, which we think, under ordinary cir- 
cumstances will last, properly coated with some material that will close the 
pores and protect the iron beyond a doubt ; also, have the spigot end of the 
pipe turned or ground smooth so that a permanent and tight joint could be 
made. This certainly would not add a great deal to the price of the present 
cheaper pipes and you would save quite a large percentage on the outlay. 

Steel Mains. 

Engineers and experts are of the opinion that to weld, or properly join 
two pieces of steel, requires that blows, as with a hammer, should be given; 
that they will not join by being rolled or crushed together, as will wrought- 
iron, for the reason that the fiber is too short ; that the two surfaces merely 
stick together as with a flux, just as two boards are glued one upon the 
other. 

In welding wrought-iron pipe, with the machinery constructed for the 
purpose, the long fibres of the iron are firmly interlaced and joined — the 
joint or weld being as firm as any other portion of the pipe. I have here a 
sample of welded steel pipe which I hope you will examine. 

Again — it is claimed that steel being short in the grain, gives a great 
deal of trouble by fracturing near the joints at the threads. For these two 
reasons it is not considered advisable to use steel mains. 

Converse Joint. 
Our worthy secretary intimated to me that a word in regard to the Con- 
verse jointed pipe would likely be of interest. Not knowing anything of 
it personally, I visited the shops of the manufacturers to see how it was 
made ; what it was made of; and to see a joint tested under pressure. The 
joint I saw tested was made in my presence, — two short lengths, about four 
feet each, of six-inch outside diameter pipes, (the thickness of the metal was 
not quite one-eighth of an inch,) were joined with the short sleeve used in 
this style of joints, — no yarn or tarred rope was necessary, — just simply slide 
the ends of the pipes in the sleeve ; give them a slight turn to tighten the lock ; 
then the usual clay roll ; pour in the molten lead ; calk the joint in the 
usual manner, which appeared to be very easily done, as there was not the 
old time yarn cushion ; the lead was driven solid against the iron and did 
not consume so much time as the ordinary joints for cast-iron pipes. After 
the completion of the joint, the open ends of the pipes were closed with 
bolted blank flanges ; the pipe laid loosely on trestles ; a force pump, with 
pressure gauge, was connected with an opening in one of the pipes and 
water forced in ; a pressure of five hundred pounds to the square inch was 



626 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



raised, and allowed to remain for some time, without a sign of leak at the 
joint ; this was a thrusting strain of fourteen thousand pounds to force the 
pipes asunder. The pressure was then raised to eight hundred pounds per 
square inch ; one of the pipes, at this, began to slide out from the sleeve, 
and the joint to leak slightly. I asked that the pressure be reduced and the 
lead re-calked, which was done and the pressure again raised to three hun- 
dred pounds before a leak was started. Again the pressure was raised to 
eight hundred and fifty pounds per inch, or a thrusting strain of twenty -two 
thousand eight hundred pounds to part the joint. 

During my investigation I learned the pipe was manufactured of the 
best grade of wrought -iron, similar to that used in the manufacture of boiler- 
tubes, or flues. After the pipes have been tested for imperfections, they are 
thoroughly coated inside and out, by being boiled in a mixture called " Kal- 
amein." Kalameining consists in "incorporating upon and into the body 
of the iron a non-corrosive metal alloy, largely composed of tin." The sur- 
face thus formed is not fractured by blows, or by bending the pipe either 
hot or cold. The sleeve, or coupling, is made of the toughest and best 
grade of cast-iron, is boiled in paraffine, to close up the minute pores of the 
iron. The outside of it, as well as the pipe, is then, if desired, coated again 
with asphaltum. By request, the manufacturers have submitted here for 
3?our inspection samples of the pipe and joint. 

The Converse jointed pipe is used very extensively by a number of 
water companies and natural gas companies. Engineers of these companies, 
by their testimonials, freely given, speak very highly of it as being so well 
adapted to resist the high pressures, and the unusual strains brought upon 
it by the slips on the mountain sides. They refer to it as giving less trouble 
from leaky joints than any other pipe they had ever used (not excepting the 
screw jointed pipe). 

An idea as to how much engineers appreciate the use of wrought-iron 
for mains for water, manufactured and natural gas, oil, compressed air and 
other purposes, may be imagined, when it is understood that of the Converse 
jointed pipe alone, there was sold in the eight years preceding January, 1890, 
pipe ranging in sizes from two-inch to twenty-four-inch, a total amount of 
nearly seven millions of feet, or nearly thirteen hundred miles. 

The Laclede Gas Light Company, St. Louis, Mo., have up to this time 
placed orders to the amount of eighteen thousand feet of twelve -inch, twelve 
thousand feet of six-inch and over six thousand feet of four-inch Converse 
light, lock-jointed, wrought-iron pipe. 

The Philadelphia Natural Gas Company says : 
We have used, perhaps, seventy-five niiles of the Converse joint pipe, and have 
found it first-class pipe in every respect. The joint is a good one, very easily put to- 
gether, and after the line is connected, the pipe is tight under a pressure of two hundred 
and fifty pouuds to the square inch. We do not carry this pressure, however, on our line 
in actual use, but test it up this high. We have just taken up considerable of this pipe 
from a field abandoned, and relaid it in a new field, and find it is just as good as the day 
we put it down, and as easily put together. In short, we take pleasure in saying the Con- 
verse pipe is all that is claimed for it by the makers. (Signed, T. A. Gillespie, General 
Superintendent. ) 

FRICTION. 

From Prof. John C. Trautwine, we have this opinion : 

As the Converse joint produces an absolutely smooth interior, reducing friction to a 
minimum, the increased flow and delivery of gas will be readily appreciated. The cast- 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 627 



iron pipes themselves are not cast perfectly straight or smooth, or of uniform diameter, 
and irregular swellings produce eddies and retard the flow. Under the most favorable 
circumstances, therefore, it is expedient to make the diameter of cast-iron pipe, even for 
temporary purposes, sufficient to discharge at least twenty per cent, more than the quan- 
tity actually wanted ; and still larger allowance should be made in permanent pipes. 
Natural and manufactured gas mains are usually for permanent lines. 

From Prof. Haswew,, we quote the following : 
The difference in friction between a line of ordinary spigot and bowl-jointed cast- 
iron pipe, and a line of seamless wrought-irou pipe, with flush connections alike to the 
Converse joint, would be fully twenty-five to thirty-five per cent. 

I have written thus fully in reference to this joint, not because it was 
my wish to foster or bring to the front, any particular patent, but as there 
appeared to be an especial interest manifested in it, and as far as lay in my 
power to oblige our worthy Secretary. 



SUMMARY. 
Our St. Louis branch house briefly summarizes the reading 
of Mr. Printz' letter and its reception by the Convention, in the 
following letter, dated St. Louis, Mo., May 26th, 1890 : 

Superintendent Eugene Printz read his paper deliberately and carefully, 
exhibiting his samples as he proceeded, and when he finished was greeted 
with hearty applause. 

The only criticism that was aimed at the truthfulness of the paper, 
came from the editor of the American Gas Journal, (Joseph R. Thomas, 44 
Pine Street, New York City). He denied the accuracy of Mr. O. P. Shaffer's 
statement that the leakage from his wrought-iron mains is less than one 
per cent. Thomas said that he had put his "nose to the joints in the 
Standard Gas Light Company's mains at a dozen different points, during the 
subway investigation, and the smell of gas was strong." If you could see 
the gentleman's nose— especially after the Meeting— you would not doubt 
his statement ! Such a nose would smell gas anywhere ! The gentleman 
had evidently favored this aforesaid nose too frequently and too tenderly 
during the Meeting, for before his criticism was finished he tottered in his 
remarks, and ran down like a Waterbury watch ! 

Several other gentlemen attacked the paper, but, strange to say, mainly 
in favor of wrought-iron for stand pipes. 

Mr. Printz exhibited a sample piece of wrought-iron pipe that had been 
used as a stand pipe which was all used up— see page 6 of Mr. Printz's 
paper. However, all of the engineers who spoke on this question said they 
had used wrought-iron for stand pipes for from six to sixteen years, and that 
they are still in good condition ; they thought Mr. Printz must have had 
exceptional conditions for his stand pipe. 

On steel mains, several engineers thought Mr. Printz dismissed the sub- 
ject rather summarily, and they testified that steel pipe for services had 
proved satisfactory to them. 

The sensation of the hour, however, came from Mr. Egner, Engi- 
neer and Superintendent of the Laclede Gas Light Company of St. Louis, 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



and now President of the Western Gas Association. He said : " It may 
interest you, gentlemen, to know the opinion of Mr. McMillan (President 
of the Laclede Gas Light Company) on this subject. You all know him as 
one of the best engineers in the country. He said to me (speaking of a 
certain size of pipe), and I do not think what he said he intended should be 
kept secret, that he would never lay another foot of cast-iron pipe in St. 
Louis. We have investigated this matter, as you may suppose, before mak- 
ing the change, and I can say that we are entirely satisfied down to the 
present moment. As to the leakage — after laying one mile of 12-inch pipe 
we tested to 10 pounds pressure, leaving the gauge standing over night, and 
in the morning there was no perceptible change. The pipe is easy to handle 
and lay. It is perhaps not yet time to speak about the cost, but we say to 
you that we are entirely satisfied." 

The meeting then concluded its labors by tendering a vote of thanks to 
Mr. Printz for his very able and instructive paper, a compliment which was 
certainly well merited. 



WROUGHT-IRON PIPE CONDUITS. 

Extracts from a paper read before the Iron and Steel Insti- 
tute, England, May meeting, 1886, by Hamilton Smith, Jr. : 

Wrought-iron pipes are largely in use in the Pacific States and Terri- 
tories of the United States as water conduits ; cast-iron pipes are only used 
for city distributing mains, where frequent connections with service pipes 
are required. The adaptation of wrought-iron for this purpose was due to 
the following causes, and affords an apt illustration of the old proverb that 
" Necessity is the Mother of Invention." 

The method of hydraulic mining was introduced or invented in Cali- 
fornia in 1852. It may roughly be defined as the discharge of jets of water, 
actuated by gravity with a considerable head, against a bank of auriferous 
gravel, the water acting first as an excavator and afterwards as a carrier of 
the washed material. The supply of water for these jets at first was con- 
ducted through hose made of heavy cotton duck cloth, which was strength- 
ened by outer nettings of cordage when the pressure was large. This hose 
was costly and short-lived. It was not practicable to use pipes made of cast- 
iron — first, on account of the prohibitive cost of transportation over steep 
mountain roads and paths to the mines ; and, second, because heavy cast- 
iron pipes could not be cheaply and quickly moved from place to place in 
the mine, the exigencies of such mining requiring frequent changes in the 
position of the supply pipes. 

In 1853 an ingenious miner laid in his mine a line of pipe consisting of 
joints of ordinary stove-pipe, made of very thin sheet-iron, lightly fastened 
together with cold rivets, with the joints united stove-pipe fashion — i. e., 
the end of one joint being tightly shoved into the larger end of the succeed- 
ing joint, with the smaller end pointing down stream. This experimental 
pipe was some five or six inches in diameter. The pipe answered the desired 
purpose admirably, and in a comparatively short time all the many hydraulic 
gravel mines in California obtained the pressure for their water jets by 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 629 



means of thin sheet -iron pipes. As hydraulic raining increased in magni- 
tude the sizes of these supply pipes also increased, the diameter for 
main lines for a large mine being from 22 to 30 inches. These pipes, 
as a ride, are made at the mine, the requisite machinery costing less 
than /"ioo. The iron is from .065 to .134 inches (Nos. 16 to 10 Birm. 
gauge) in thickness, with a double row of cold rivets for the longitud- 
inal seam when the pressure is to be large. The only test made of the 
quality of the iron is the judgment of the pipe maker, who can generally 
discover and reject sheets of bad quality by defects manifested when the 
plates pass through the rolls ; in fact, this is one of the chief reasons why 
the mine owners have preferred to make the pipes themselves. The length 
of the separate joints is from iS to 25 feet, one end being slightly smaller 
than the other end. As a protection against rust, each joint is immersed 
for several minutes in a bath of boiling asphaltum and coal tar ; a little 
rosin is added when a glassy surface is desired, and sometimes a little fish 
oil. This immersion results in a thorough coating of the pipe, both inside 
and outside, and is vastly superior to any application of paint. When the 
pipes are coated properly the protection appears to be perfect. The several 
joints are then joined together, stove-pipe fashion, the lower joint being 
shoved firmly into place by jack-screws. When the fit is slack a piece of 
tarred canvas is wrapped around the small end ; wedges of soft pine wood 
are sometimes driven in where the fit is a bad one. Such pipes are laid on 
the surface of the ground, and can be put together or taken apart with great 
ease and at small expense. When a line of such pipe is laid by skillful men 
with ordinary care, although the length may be several thousand feet, with 
a pressure at the lower end as great as 450 feet, there are but trifling leaks, 
which generally can be stopped by putting sawdust into the inlet end of the 
pipe. As an illustration of the tightness of such rough joints, I may in- 
stance a main laid by me for supplying water power, having a length of two 
miles and a maximum pressure of 550 feet. The leakage from this pipe did 
not average more than three or four cubic feet a minute, although the only 
protection from changes of temperature was a couple of boards tacked to- 
gether and placed over the pipe. (The extreme range of temperature was 
from io° to 107 F. — in the shade.) 

After successful practice in the mines had demonstrated the advantages 
and capabilities of wrought-iron pipes they were used for permanent con- 
duits, both for conducting water to mining districts, across deep mountain 
gorges, and also for the supply of cities. San Francisco, with some 300,000 in- 
habitants, receives its water through two lines of such pipes, and a third pipe, 
many miles in length and of large diameter, is now being laid for an ad- 
ditional supply. 

For permanent conduits the joints of a pipe of considerable diameter are 
generally riveted together ; for small diameters with high pressure lead 
joints are used. Such conduits are, of course, placed in trenches and 
covered with earth, in order to avoid excessive alternations in contraction 
and expansion ; slip-joints need not to be used, as the pipes are sufficiently 
elastic to permit changes in length due to variation of the temperature of the 
water. 

The following statement will illustrate the Pacific coast practice with 
conduit pipes, the flow in all cases being caused by gravity : 



630 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Name. 


■6 
'3 

s 

V 


Length in feet. 


Sj 

a. a 
5 


k"3 

x t: <u 


Maximum tensile 
strain in lbs. on 
iron per sq. in. 


Cherokee 

Virginia City - 

Texas Creek 

Hamburg 


1870 
1872 

1873 

1878 
1868 


12,798 
37,IOO 

37,IOO 

4,439 
1,194 


30 
11 

10 

17 
26 


887 
1,720 

1,720 

760 
I20 (?) 


17,549 
about 
15,000 

(?) 
about 
18,000 
11,500 



Description of Pipe. — Cherokee, plate iron, double riveted. Virginia 
City, plate iron, double riveted ; lap-welded tubing ; outer-screw couplings. 
Texas Creek, plate-iron, double riveted. Humbug, single riveted iron 1-16- 
inch in thickness ; two pipes, each 26 inches in diameter, laid side by side. 

The two Virginia City pipes are laid side by side ; the lead joints for the 
riveted pipe under the enormous pressure of 1,700 feet at first gave consider- 
able trouble ; the lap-welded pipe gave no trouble whatever. The general 
tensile strain on the Texas Creek pipe is about 16,500 pounds per square 
inch. 

The oldest of these pipes — the two across Humbug Canon — are notable 
for having been laid 17 years ago of iron, single riveted, only 1-16 inch in 
thickness. When I last heard from them, a few months ago, they were 
reported to be in good order. The other pipes are also stated to be now in 
excellent condition. 

The iron for the Virginia City and Texas Creek riveted pipes was of 
very inferior quality ; the iron for the Cherokee pipe was of ordinary 
quality ; yet it will be observed these pipes have for many years past been 
subjected to tensile strains which must seem almost fabulous to one only 
accustomed to cast-iron water pipes. 

So far as rust is concerned, in my extensive experience I have only 
seen one notable instance where an asphaltuin coating, properly applied, 
did not protect the wrought iron, and that was with a pipe over which 
passed a stream of water highly charged with sulphate of iron. 

Lap-welded iron tubes of sizes up to 15 inches in diameter are now 
largely used in the United States for conduit pipes, and will safely stand a 
strain of about 20,000 pounds per square inch. They are almost exclusively 
used in the Western mines for pump columns, owing to their combined 
lightness and strength. The lines of pipe through which petroleum is 
pumped from the Pennsylvania oil wells to the seaboard are made of this 
tubing, the diameter generally being six inches. 

The query presents itself, why should not wrought iron be used for 
conduit pipes in preference to cast-iron ? If it answers the desired purpose 
in California, why should it not do so in other parts of the world ? To one 
like myself who has for years been accustomed to the California practice, it 
seems as irrational to build a pipe carrying water under considerable 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 631 



pressure of cast-iron as it would be to build a suspension bridge with the 
supporting chains made of cast-iron. 

Experience in the United States has shown that the practicable limit 
of size for cast-iron mains is a diameter of about four feet, even when the 
pressure is less than ioo feet. It is evident that a pipe of wrought-iron or 
mild steel can be safely made of almost any desired size, and this may be 
of much advantage if it be desired to conduct a large supply of water through 
pipes for city or other use. For instance, with an inclination of three feet 
per mile a single pipe 8X feet in diameter will carry 280 cubic feet per 
second, while seven pipes, each four feet in diameter, would be required to 
transport the same quantity of water with the same inclination. The cost 
of the large pipe, made of steel or wrought-iron, would be considerably less 
than one-half the cost of the seven small pipes made of cast-iron. 

The ideal conduit for high pressures is a welded steel tube ; such tubes 
could probably be subjected to a tensile strain of 25,000 pounds with perfect 
safety, and would be much preferable to riveted pipe, not only on account 
of superior strength, but also by reason of almost perfect interior smooth- 
ness. 



JAMES C. BAYLES, C. E. 



THE PIPE OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE IS THE WELDED 
WROUGHT-IRON OR STEEL TUBE. 

In the issue of the Manufacturer of June 20, of the current 
year, was published a paper discussing the merits of the differ- 
ent materials now in use for gas mains, namely, cast-iron, 
wrought-iron and steel. As in the paper mentioned the subject 
of steel pipes was but briefly dwelt upon, the following letter by 
James C. Bayles, in the Engineering Record, may be of interest. 
While the article refers more specifically to the use of steel for 
water pipes than those for piping gas, yet the conditions in the 
two systems of service are so nearly similar that we reprint the 
article for the benefit of our readers who are interested in the 
pipeage of natural gas. 

The article in your issue of August 2 seems to have been prepared in 
some misconception of the nature of the question which is now under dis- 
cussion in engineering circles. So far as I an aware, there is no discussion 
as to whether cast-iron, steel or wrought-iron is the best material for pipe 
manufacture. In the American Water Works Association the debate took a 
practical turn, and hinged on the question — understood by the speakers, if 
not clearly formulated in words — whether the superior advantages of steel 
as a material was not offset by the passive resistance to destructive oxidation 
in the ground of the heavy and clumsy cast-iron pipes hitherto used. In 
the New England Water Works Association, as I learn from a study of their 
transactions for several years, the discussion has assumed much the same 
character — cement pipe being contrasted with cast-iron, not because it was 



632 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



open to debate whether iron or cement is the better pipe material, but simply 
which rendered the better service during a long term of years. 

I venture the prediction that the days of cast-iron pipe are nearing an 
end. They represent too much dead weight for too little strength. Wise 
engineers long ago reached the conclusion that the most costly and least 
satisfactory way of protecting iron against oxidation is the mere bulk of its 
own substance ; and those most concerned in the future of the cast-iron 
pipe, for business reasons, realize most keenly the fact that it is destined 
soon to take its place among the materials forced into disuse by the progress 
of the arts. Mr. Hamilton Smith, Jr., who stands very high in the pro- 
fession of hydraulic engineering, in a paper contributed to the British Iron 
and Steel Institute, and published in Volume I. of their Transactions for 
1886, furnished data as to the life and strength of wrought-iron and steel 
pipe for water conveyance, which left little room for further discussion. He 
concludes as follows : 

The query presents itself: Why should not wrought-iron, or, still better, steel, be used 
for conduit pipes in preference to cast-iron ? If it answers the desired purpose in California, 
why should it not do so in other parts of the world? To one like myself, who has for years 
been accustomed to the California practice, it seems as irrational to build a pipe carrying 
waler under considerable pressure, of cast-iron, as it would be to build a suspeusiou bridge 
with the supporting chains made of cast-iron. 

Experience in the United States has shown that the practicable limit of size for cast- 
iron mains is a diameter of about four feet, even when the pressure is less than 100 feet. 
It is evident that a pipe of wrought-iron or mild steel can be made of almost any desired 
size, and this may be of much advantage if it be desired to conduct a large supply of water 
through pipes for city or other use. For instance, with an inclination of three feet per 
mile a single pipe S% feet in diameter will carry 280 cubic feet per second, while seven 
pipes, each four feet in diameter, would be required to transport the same quantity of 
water with the same inclination. The cost of the large pipe, made of steel or wrought-iron, 
would be considerably less than one-half the cost of the seven small pipes made of cast-iron 

The ideal conduit for high pressure is a welded steel tube ; such tubes could probably 
be subjected to a. tensile strain of 25,000 pounds with perfect safety, and would be much 
preferable to riveted pipe, not only on account of superior strength, but also by reason of 
almost perfect interior smoothness. * * * The adaptation of a superior and cheap 
metal, such as mild steel, for conduits, will permit the construction of works in many parts 
of the world which now appear to be impracticable owing to the cost of many of the meth- 
ods still in use for the transportation of water. 

The problem of the protection of steel tubes in the ground is no longer 
one which causes the engineer any anxiety. A steel tube one-sixteenth 
inch thick, properly coated with asphalt applied in the right way, will, un- 
der normal conditions, have a longer useful life in the ground than a cast- 
iron-pipe one-quarter inch thick. Meanwhile it will be, what cast-iron is 
not, impervious. The experience in the streets of New York with cast-iron 
gas and water pipes shows how long they will outlive their usefulness as 
conduits. The pipe of the present and future is the welded wrought-iron or 
steel tube ; and the fact that the demand for these has always been greater 
than the available supply, would seem to dispose satisfactorily of the idea 
that they are regarded with a prejudice, which must be overcome before 
they can be generally introduced. 



WROUGHT-IRON, CAST-IRON OR STEEL. 633 



THE INDUSTRY OF GAS IN THE UNITED STATES 
OF NORTH AMERICA. 

LECTURE DELIVERED BY MR. V. OECHEEHAEUSER AT THE MEETING OF 

THE " DEUTSCHER VEREIN VON GAS UND WASSERFACH- 

MANNERN " AT KARLSRUHE, JUNE l8, 1894. 

An object not less interesting than the compressing plant, was the double 
high-pressure conduit leading to Chicago, 115 miles or 185 kilometres long. 
This pipe- line combines the results of all experiments hitherto made as re- 
gards the choice of material to be used in the construction of such pipes, and 
the method of tightening the joints ; for some of the older pipe-lines from 
other gas fields, carelessly made from the first and then still more perfunc- 
torily attended to, are said to have caused losses varying between 30 and 40 
per cent. The double conduit in question consists of wrought-iron pipes of 
the best quality. 8 inches or 203 millimetres in diameter, provided with con- 
ical screw-threads, and tested to a pressure of 1,200 lbs. per square inch, or 
84.5 atmospheres. These lengths of pipe are joined together without the in- 
terposition of any packing, being simply screwed into each other, after 
their respective screw-threads have been oiled. The tightness of the joints 
of these pipes, when tested, proved to be nearly perfect. At a pressure of 
about 42 atmospheres or 600 lbs., the loss of pressure observed after three or 
four days did not exceed 0.35 of an atmosphere, or 5 lbs., while the loss of 
gas throughout the conduit only amounted to about 0.83 per cent. In 
actual practice, the aggregate loss is estimated at the maximum of one per 
cent. It is stated that the maximum quantity of gas may be forced through 
the two conduits when the terminal pressure is equal to just one-half of the 
greatest initial pressure, i. <?., when it amounts to 30 atmospheres. From 
this it would appear that each pipe is capable of transmitting about 20,000 
cubic metres of gas per hour, or (as this gas has 1,000 B. T. U. per cubic 
foot, or 8,500 Calories per cubic metre, 20 cubic feet or 0.566 cubic metres 
of the same giving one H. P. in the engine) each pipe or conduit may trans- 
mit 35,000 H. P., or the double conduit about 70,000 H. P. This is 
an interesting example of the enormous capability of transmission of 
power* with gas pipes which I specially emphasized in my Berlin lecture, 
and which is all the more remarkable, as the loss it involves, apart from 
compression, is in those cases reduced practically to nil. Mr. Forbes, the 
well-known English electrician, who at the time was employed in finishing 
the grand electrical device of the works at Niagara Falls, and whom I met 
on the spot in July last, informed me that it was intended to convey 10,000 
H. P. of the hydraulic power available from there to Buffalo, i. e., a distance 
of 15 miles, or 24.1 kilometres ; and later on that amount was to be increased 
to 25,000 H. P. Therefore the existing conduits for the transmission of 



* Although, strictly speaking, this is not a case of direct transmission of power, but 
merely one of conveyance of fuel, yet for practical purposes it may not be wrong to con. 
sider it in comparison with the existing meaus of transmission of such driving mediums 
as electricity, compressed air, steam and water, inasmuch as these means of transmission 
also carry the power-producing agent from place to place not in the form in which it can 
be directly utilized as power, or applied to the driving shaft, but in a condition which 
requires the use of a special motor or engine, which, indeed, is more simple than a gas 
engine, butwhich, like the latter, entails considerable losses in the process of converting 
the agent supplied into motive power. 



634 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



natural gas from Indiana to Chicago convey up to this time a quantity of 
power seven times larger, and for a distance seven times longer, than the 
quantity and distance contemplated in the first Niagara project referred to. 
That distance is about ten kilometres longer than the famous distance 
between Lauffen and Frankfort-on-the-iMain. The cost of the pipe lines 
amounted to about one and a half million dollars, which brings the cost of 
one-horse power, delivered at a distance of one hundred and eighty-seven 
kilometres and fully utilized, down to only 90 marks. 

On its arrival at Chicago the gas is distributed under the control of 
the Economic Gas Fuel Company by means of a special low pressure system 
of mains, the whole length of which amounts to about 160 miles, or 2,574 
kilometres. 



:AST-IRON SYNDICATE. 635 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 

When, in course of an}' controversy, arguments are prepared 
and printed and cases are cited in confirmation or substantiation 
thereof, it is to be presumed that such cases are the most notice- 
able, and, for this reason, selected. 

The syndicate of cast-iron pipe manufacturers, which was 
formed for the purpose of injuring the sale of Converse Joint 
Pipe, published a book in 1884, a copy of which is now in the 
writer's hands, entitled : " Information and Result of Experi- 
ments of Various Materials Used for Water Pipe." The intro- 
ductory remarks are of the general character, but soon become 
partisan, and as strongly in favor of cast-iron pipe as the com- 
piler could possibly devise. 

On page 4 of the pamphlet, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh 
are mentioned as commanding the best engineering talent with 
their water supply. On page 5, the book states that ■ 

In a reply of A. W. Craven, C. E., (for many } r ears Chief Engineer of 
the Croton Aqueduct Department of New York, ) his professional opinion 
being asked as to the relative merits of cast-iron over any substitute for 
water mains, he says : " In cast-iron you are dealing with a certainty." 

Now, this reply of Mr. Craven's was made in 1876, previous 
to the manufacture of our specialty of water pipe and the 
"substitute" in the case was sheet-iron pipe lined with cement. 
You will observe from this that the reference falls utterly flat, 
since it refers to a comparison between cast-iron and a class of 
goods we do not manufacture nor advocate and, therefore, can 
have no bearing as a comparison between cast-iron pipe and 
what we do manufacture and advocate. 

From page 6, we copy the following : 

The question of the value of bonds issued in payment of water works 
should be taken into consideration, and whether a bond issued upon works 
that are liable to a heavy expenditure for repairs and renewals should be 
placed upon the market. 

We accept that challenge, and for the replacement and renew- 
als we refer you to the City of Philadelphia, where replacements, 
renewals and repairs have cost the city over one- half million of 
dollars during the last two or three decades. It is a noticeable 



636 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



fact that new works, built with a cast-iron pipe system are always 
very expensive, much more expensive at first than for a few suc- 
ceeding years, or until such time as the cast iron pipe becomes tu- 
berculated. We refer especially to the cities of Quincy, Mass., 
Wellsville, N. Y., Columbia, Tenn., and Buena Vista, Col., as to 
the cost of maintaining comparatively new works, all with our 
system of pipe. The builder of the Sioux Falls Water Works, 
Sioux Falls, Minn., in speaking of the testing of water works, 
told the writer that in testing the Sioux Falls Water Works some 
time ago (which, by the way, are composed of a cast-iron sys- 
tem, with a few extensions of our pipe,) he thought he never 
would get the system tight ; that break after break occurred in 
the cast-iron pipes before the system was considered serviceable, 
and that the cost to him in getting the system serviceable from 
the time the water was first turned on, was over $300.00. 
We quote again from page 6 : 

But a few 3'ears since, cast-iron pipes were cast in green sand, on side, 
and were much more liable to imperfection than by the now universally 
adopted practice of casting in dry sand on end, thus preventing any admix- 
ture of sand or dirt with the iron and greatly decreasing the liability of blow- 
holes from gases or damp moulds. 

You will note that they admit the liability of blow-holes is 
decreased, but not prevented. 
From page 6 we also quote : 

It is the custom of all pipe-founders to carefully test any pipe sent 
from their works, whether they be used for water, gas or steam. 

This may be true, but we are not aware of the extensive use 
of cast-iron pipe for steam, although we are aware that entirely 
different schedules of weights are made for water and gas. 

From page 9 w r e quote the following : 

Mr. J. M. Carson was appointed chairman of a committee to employ an 
expert to direct the test of Kalamein pipe to be made. Herewith is ap- 
pended their report, for the information of those engaged in the construc- 
tion and operation of water works. 

Now, we were creditably informed that a committee was 
appointed by the American Water Works Association in May, 
1884, but that committee had not then made any report, and, 
consequently, from the information which we obtained from 
reputable members of the Association, as well as from one of 
that very committee, we knew the pamphlet was a wilful mis- 
representation and an endeavor to deceive the reader. 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 637 



Again on page 8, the pamphlet refers to Kalamein pipe as 
follows : 

Wrought-iron pipe treated in a bath composed of tin, zinc and lead, 
called Kalamein, has been offered to the trade as a substitute for cast-iron 
pipe, for the use of water and gas works, etc. 

The process called " Kalamein " does not consist of a bath 
such as described. There was a misstatement, fair and square, 
and would indicate that the writer of the article either did not 
know or would not write the truth. 

On page 10 the report is given of the alleged examination 
of Prof. Charles O. Thompson. On page 12, article fourth, he 
gives an analysis of the Kalamein metal. One of the important 
metals composing the alloy is not mentioned in the analysis. 
We leave you to draw your inferences. 

We submitted the report of Prof. Thompson to a chemist 
who is quite as able to prepare one and who is more familiar 
with the ingredients of the alloy composing the Kalamein. This 
chemist has made a review, in which he totally upsets the cal- 
culations of Prof. Thompson, and shows plainly that they (Prof. 
Thompson's) are erroneous. We will just take up one point, 
which will be sufficient to illustrate : 

On page 13, Prof. Thompson says in his report : 

Lead pipe poisons drinking water beyond dispute ; that zinc pipe may 
poison water is possible. We have here a pipe of lead, tin and zinc and iron, 
liable to rust under the action of water, and numerous clots of the alloy of 
lead, tin and zinc, certain to contribute a large amount of lead and zinc salts 
to the water that covers them. 

The review of Prof. Thompson's report on this point reads 
as follows : 

The above is merely a statement without facts or analysis to show that 
the lead was in solution with the water. Now, oxide of iron will prevent 
lead from becoming soluble in water in the presence of metallic iron, from 
the fact that lead is negative to iron. Moreover, I have made several tests 
and I have never yet found lead present in the water. 

On page 14, on the question of durability, Prof. Thompson 
says that samples were submitted undisturbed as follows : " In 
cistern water, cast-iron and wrought-iron were about equally 
rusted ; Kalamein not so much." As Mr. Thompson has again 
omitted figures here, there is little importance attached to the 
argument, although it is favorable to Kalamein. 

After what is called the " Committee's Report," follows ex- 
tracts from reports of different water works. The first is from 



638 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the annual report of Lowell, Mass., for 1880. The wrought- 
iron pipe mentioned in this report is sheet-iron, cement-lined. 
The second is from the annual report of New Bedford, May, 
1881. The wrought-iron mentioned in this report is sheet-iron, 
cement-lined. The next is the annual report of the City of 
Worcester, May, 1881. The same may be said of this report, 
and the same also for the report of Salem, Mass., [880, and 
Hartford, Conn., 1876. 

In other words, every single reference in this Cast Iron 
Syndicate's pamphlet, with the exception of Thompson's report 
on Kalamein pipe, is a reference to something which is not under 
discussion, therefore can have no bearing on the present issue. 
A pamphlet of this character, based on fraud, might have some 
weight with ignorant people, but surely reverts to the injury of 
its authors when it falls into the hands of either experienced or 
inquiring minds. 

Referring to the alleged quotation from the Lowell report, 
as an illustration of these misrepresentations in question, we 
give the Cast-iron Syndicate s quotation and then the correct 
reading, for comparison : 

Cast-Iron Quotation. 
(From Annual Report of Lowell, Mass., for 1880. Page 54.) 
The largest job of changing pipe was on Middlesex and Branch 
Streets, from Thorndike Street to Smith Street. Two thousand thirty- 
seven and one-half feet of twelve-inch cast-iron pipe was laid in place of 
twelve-inch wrought- iron pipe taken out. This wrought-iron pipe had been 
in use about thirteen years, etc. 

Horace G. Hoeden, Superintendent. 

On March 22d Mr. Holden sent us a copy of this report, 
with the following comments : 

I mail you to-day my eighth annual report. You will see on page 54 
that the wording is entirely different from the report in the pamphlet which 
Mr. Converse showed me, and the person who published that statement is 
evidently a fraud. 

Correct Quotation. 

The largest job of changing pipe was on Middlesex and Branch 
Streets, from Thorndike Street to Smith Street. Two thousand thirty- 
seven and one-half feet of twelve-inch cast-iron pipe was laid in place of 
twelve-inch cement-lined pipe taken out. This cement-lined pipe had been 
in use about thirteen years, etc. 

Horace G. Hoeden, Superintendent. 



With these introductory remarks as to the underhanded 
course adopted by the Cast-iron Syndicate with a view to pre- 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 639 



judicing the public against wrought-iron pipe in general and 
Converse Joint Kalamein pipe in particular, we will now repro- 
duce the exact records of the American Water Works Associa- 
tion which bear upon the subject. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS 
ASSOCIATION. 

FOURTH AND FIFTH ANNUAI, SESSIONS. 



FOURTH SESSION, CINCINNATI, OHIO, 1884. 

At the suggestion ot Mr. Gardner, President Briggs favored the meeting 
with some remarks concerning indestructible lap -welded pipe. Resigning 
the chair to Mr. Gardner, Mr. Briggs said : 

Within a year or two a new pipe has been put on the market by one of the largest and 
most responsible manufacturing establishments in the country. It is called the indestruc- 
tible lap-welded seamless pipe, and has been used to a greater or less extent in some foity 
different places. It is wrought iron coated, or rather impregnated with a preparation 
called Kalamein, and has much the appearance of galvanized pipe. The manufacturers 
claim it is indestructible by any acid that is ever found in the earth ; that the first cost is 
less, freight is less ; that there is no danger of its being- shattered or injured in transporta- 
tion ; that it can be laid with much less labor (I think myself three men can do the work 
of about seven on cast-iron pipe); that the specials are much lighter; that by means of 
the Converse Lock Joint, bound to lay straight ; that the inside is smoother, and no 
danger from weak places caused by blow holes, etc. If these are facts, it is going to 
supersede cast-iron, if it can be manufactured fast enough. But are the3 7 facts? I consider 
that when an article of so much importance to the water works world is being introduced, 
under such plausible conditions, that it is one of the objects and the duty of this Associa- 
tion to investigate the matter for the mutual protection of the corporations we represent ; 
that it should be thoroughly tested by a disinterested expert chemist, who would, of 
course, expect to be paid for his services. While that test may show that it is everything 
claimed for it, it would be a black eye to a city if, after six, eight or ten years, they had to 
replace it. I would like to hear the experience of others in the matter before giving 
my own. 

No one responding, the speaker continued : 
When this pipe was first suggested I was favorably impressed with it. But a test 
made by a gentleman who stands high not only as a chemist, but as a practical man, was 
not satisfactory ; I will not prejudice the case by giving details, further than that it 
merely rusted rapidty in our city water. Now, as far as I am concerned, it knocked the 
Kalamein pipe higher than that literar\' effusion of Beecher's after the Tilton trial. I un- 
derstand that it has been tested by a commission of United States engineers. There may 
be something peculiar in our water ; perhaps nitric acid, although I never heard of any. 
Personally I could never appreciate the decision of the colored justice, that twenty men 
not being observant of the fact, outweighed two responsible witnesses, who swore they saw 
a man commit a theft. Now, as one man has found it is not perfect (and there is certainly no 
place where we need perfection more than in a water main, laying many feet underground 
practically inaccessible for inspection, with probably the safety of the whole city de- 
pending upon it), I think it our duty to have it tested, to see whether it will answer in any 
soil and water, with all soils and water, or none ; and I would make a motion that a com- 
mittee be appointed to employ a competent chemist, and that a reasonable fee be allowed 
for that purpose, to be taken from the funds of the Association as soon as the state of our 
finances will oermit. 



640 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Mr. Shefold said that in some districts in his city every kind of pipe rusts 
out ; cast-iron pipe with him lasted for ten years, while any other kind 
rusted out in two or three years. He thought the better plan would be to 
get reports from the forty water works that have used this new pipe. 

Mr. Dunham suggested that the pipe had not been in use long enough 
in works to make their experience with it of value as a full test. 

Motion of Mr. Briggs was adopted and the . following committee ap- 
pointed : J. M. Carson, Frank Shefold and H. G. Holden. 



FIFTH SESSION, BOSTON, MASS., 1885. 

The; President : The next in order will be the reading of the report 
of the Committee to investigate the merits of the so-called " Kalamein 
Pipe," which committee I see here represented by Mr. Holden. 

Mr. Hoeden : Before making any remarks upon this pipe I think it 
will be well to read a few extracts from last year's report. I find the other 
members of the committee are not here. Mr. Carson writes that it would be 
impossible for him to come, and he sent me the report on this pipe question, 
signed by him and Mr. Shefold, with this letter : 

Danville, III., April gth, 1885. 
H. G. Holden, Esq., Lowell, Mass. 

My Dear Sir :— I herewith enclose all the papers and have this day sent by express 

the specimens alluded to in this report. And as it so transpires I cannot get away from 

my post as I had hoped until within a few days past, which I regret very much, as I had 

looked forward to this meeting with a great deal of interest, but I know there will be 

enough of our peculiar western culture in the meeting to make the " Hub " revolve just a 

little fast for three days with the lubricant known to exist in baked beans, etc., etc. The 

conclusion is irresistible to my mind even at a distance. Present my regards to many 

pleasant acquaintances formed at Cincinnati last year, and believe me, 

Yours truly, John M. Carson. 

I will also state that last summer we employed a chemist, Mr. Thompson, 
of Terre Haute, Iud., and authorized him to get samples and make tests, 
and Mr. Carson sent me his report, which I will read : 

Report on Kalamein Pipe 
John G. Briggs, Esq., Superintendent of Terre Haute Water Works, submitted to me 
on June 10th, 1884, a piece of new water pipe, three inches long by two in diameter, weigh- 
ing 226 grammes, for examination. It seemed to be an alloy of iron. The points to be 
considered are : 

I. Whether the pipe can be safely used as a carrier for drink-water. 

II. Whether in durability this so-called " Kalamein " pipe has any advantages over 
iron, wrought or cast. 

To determine these points I instituted some experiments. 

I. June 20th, 1884. The sample was immersed in 200 c. c. of cistern water contained in 
a glass vessel and the water allowed to evaporate at the temperature of my office. This 
was repeated six times. Rusting began the second day on the newly-cut end of the sample 
and proceeded from many points on the surface with augmenting rapidity to the end of 
the experiment, October 25th, 1S84. At that time the sample showed at least thirty points 
where oxidation had begun on the surface and had lost 17.6 grammes in weight. At this 
rate it would be entirely destroyed in fifty months and become useless as a water carrier in 
less than two years. This experiment shows that whatever the alloy is which has been 
mixed with the iron it does not avail to prevent the protrusion of points of iron, which 
rusts all the faster in the presence of water on account of the contact of the new metals. 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 641 



II Anatysis of the sediment produced by the rusting of the pipe in Experiment I 
shows : 

Tin i . 34 per cent. 

Lead 6.84 

Zinc 446 " 

Iron 87.36 " by difference. 

100.00 

This shows that the other metals rust with iron. 

Late in June, 1884, I received from Mr. Briggs another sample of the " Kalamein " 
pipe, ten feet long by two inches in diameter. From this I cut several pieces three inches 
long and one four inches long. From the remainder I got a fair sample of the metal of 
the pipe by boring through it in twenty different places. 

III. Analysis of these borings shows : 

Lead 0.49 per cent. 

Tin 0.27 " 

Zinc 0.54 " 

Iron 98.70 " by difference. 

ico. 00 

This experiment taken in connection with experiment II. shows that the metals which 
have been alloyed with the iron are far more abundant near the surface of the pipe, 
where it is in contact with water, than in the interior substance of the pipe ; and that 
resting at the surface throws into the water the largest possible amount of disengaged 
compouud of zinc, tin and lead. 

IV. But in each of several pieces of the pipe I observe a clot of white metal from 1 
in. to % in. in thickness, closely adherent to the pipe and running its entire length. I 
should judge that at least two ounces of this alloy could be cut from a 4-in. piece 
without disturbing its cylindrical form. Analysis of this clot shows : 

Lead 68. 11 per cent. 

Tin 26.07 

Zinc 5.16 " 

Iron 42 " 

99.76 

That lead pipe poisons drink-water is beyond dispute. [See Mass. B'd Health Reports, 
1871, pp. 22-44.] That zinc pipe may poison water is possible. [See Mass. Health Reports, 
1874, pp. 487-510.] That the oxidation of lead by water is intensified by the presence and 
contact of zinc is also certain. We have here a pipe composed of lead, tin, zinc and iron, 
liable to rust under the action of water, and numerous clots of an alloy of lead, zinc and 
tin, certain to contribute large amounts of lead and zinc salts to the water that covers them. 
I do not think such a pipe a suitable carrier for drink-water. 

The second point is whether the pipe is durable as compared with iron, wrought or cast. 

To determine this, September 23d, 1884, I cleaned some sections of iron pipe 2 in. 
diameter, 3 in. long, and immersed them respectively in cistern, well and city water. I 
also immersed similar sections of the "Kalamein " pipe in the same way. I also immersed 
a section of wrought-iron and one of cast in their normal condition, i. e., without any 
attempt to clean them, in well water. 

The condition of these samples November 1st, 1884, all of which are submitted undis- 
turbed, was as follows : 

In cistern water, clean cast and wrought-iron were about equally rusted, Kalamein 
not as much. 

In city water, wrought-iron rusted most, Kalamein next, cast-iron least. 

In well water, the result was the same as in city water. 

But of the two normal sections exposed to well water, cast-iron is hardly acted on at 
all and wrought-iron slightly. 

I do not see any reason to think that Kalamein pipe is as durable under the action of 
the water as plain iron pipes properly coated. 

Finally I have buried, September icth, 1884, sections of Kalamein pipe near the gas 
main, the water main, a cesspool and in the Institute campus. Tho condition of these 
samples at the end of one year will be worth noticing. 

Charles O. Thompson, 
Prof, of Chemistry, Rose Polytechnic Institute. 

Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 5, 1884. 



642 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We, the undersigned, by invitation of Mr. J. M. Carson, Chairman of 
the Committee appointed by the American Water Works Association to 
investigate the so-called ' ' Kalamein ' ' pipe, hereby testify that we find the 
samples presented by Prof. C. O. Thompson agree substantially with his 
report. 

J. A. Parker, 
J. G. Briggs, 
A. B. Fitch, 

Lewis J. Cox. 
Respectfully submitted, 

J. M. Carson, Ch'n Com. A. W. W. A. 

TERRE HauTE, Ind., Nov. 12, 1884. 

We deem it important to insert at this point the " review " 
of Prof. Thompson's reports, to which we alluded in the intro- 
ductory remarks of this chapter. 

McKEESPORT, Pa., April nth, 1885. 
To Whom it may Concern : 

I am a chemist by education and profession, and am at present em- 
ployed as the official chemist of the National Tube Works Company and the 
National Galvanizing Works, jointly. 

I have read in a circular, published at Cincinnati, what purports to be a 
copy of the late Prof. C. O. Thompson's report on Kalamein pipe. 

In my capacity as chemist for the National Galvanizing Works, the 
mixture of the metals composing the alloy have all been made under my 
personal direction. I have made frequent analyses of the alloy, both before 
it has been put into the bath, and from clots taken from the pipe, as de- 
scribed in the alleged report of Prof. C. O. Thompson. I have also made 
frequent analyses of the borings, as described, and I hereby certify that the 
proportions given by Prof. Thompson, both from borings and from clots, 
are not correct ; basing this statement upon the fact that the alleged 
analysis of Prof. Thompson does not agree — first, with the proportions of 
the alloy, as compounded, and second, with the proportions of the alloy 
as found by me in va.y frequent analyses. The most important variation 
between the alleged analyses of Prof. Thompson and the actual proportions, 
as compounded, and as found by me in the subsequent analyses of both 
boring and clots, is with the metal, nickle, which I hereby certify has 
been used in every instance in the compound found by me in my analysis> 
but not mentioned by Prof. Thompson. 

In conclusion, I wish to further state that, of course, I have made no 
analysis of the particular sample analyzed by Prof. Thompson, but my 
report is based upon the alleged publication of such report of his, but not 
upon his original report, which I, of course, have never seen, and I there- 
fore know that a correct analysis of the genuine metal could not have shown 
such result. 

(Signed) C. E. Manby, Chemist. 

The proceedings continue : 
Mr. Holden : I will state that Mr. Carson sent me samples, which I 
have here, and I will read the report of the committee : 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 643 



To the President and Members of the American Water JVorks Association ; 

Gentlemen : — Your committee to whom was assigned the duty of having a test made 
of a new material known as " Kalamein," and claiming a place among other materials as a 
durable and permanent water carrier for water works purposes, would respectfully report, 
that after a careful test by elementary exposures, under the personal direction of an expert 
chemist who was employed by us to conduct same, and that depending chiefly on the data 
thus obtained, which is hereby made a part of this report. 

Your committee would express grave doubts as to its fitness for the purposes for which 
it claims a place in the construction of permanent water works. Some of the specimens 
have been preserved, and are herewith presented in corroboration of Prof. Thompson's 
report. 

Very respectfully, 

John M. Carson, Chni., ) „ 
Frank Shefold, ) LO ■ 

Have taken samples of the pipe, exposed them to the air, water and ground, and found 
in each case a large deterioration in the material of pipe in less than one year's time ; would 
not like to use same for water mains. F. S. 

Mr. Holden : I will state that I have not signed this report. I have 
made all enquiries that I can or could, concerning that pipe and I find that 
there are parties here who have been using it — manufacturing it — and I 
understand that there are some chemical tests that have been made which 
will be reported here. For that reason I refrain from signing this report 
until I could hear the other side of the question. 

Mr. Howland : In relation to this subject of wrought-iron pipe I am 
especially interested, having used in the last two years 40 or 50 miles of it in 
various places and under a great variety of conditions. And while not 
being able to-day to go into any scientific or chemical analysis of the question 
involved, I would like to state my experience with it. About two years 
ago (26 months I think it was) I had this first called to my attention. At 
that time its manufacture was just begun. I had been looking around for a 
suitable pipe, or perhaps better pipe than that which we had been using, 
and my attention was directed to wrought-iron pipe. The great strides that 
had been made in the process of its manufacture had, at this time, reduced 
its cost so that it was not so much in excess of the cost of cast-iron pipe, but 
that we could consider it. I therefore spent some days or weeks in corre- 
spondence, in visiting and examining wrought-iron pipe manufactories. I 
made up my mind that in all particulars but one it was superior to any- 
thing we then had in use ; as far as strength was concerned it was better able 
to resist ill-usage in transportation, water-hammer and the other external 
and internal pressures to which pipes are subject. It was smooth, 
comparatively on the inside, and friction must be less than in most 
other pipes. It was made in long lengths, and the joints would be 
one-third less per mile than in cast-iron pipes, and the joints that 
were made were much better than the ordinary form of cast-iron 
pipe joints. It was, practically, a continuous pipe through the joint and 
therefore there was but little friction to be allowed for in the joint. The 
question in relation to external and internal pressure you all know. The 
internal is the "water hammer," and it is needless for me to go further on 
the matter. As far as the external pressure goes, the pipe, as you all know, 
has to carry not only its own weight, but the earth upon it. My attention 
has been called to a pipe that has been laid in the extension in Washington 
Street in this city. The extension was made through an old portion of the 
city and in tearing down the buildings they did not remove the sub-founda- 



644 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



tions, and filled in between them with almost anything that would come 
handy. The pipe was then laid, and the one I had my attention particularly 
called to was a pipe that rested on an old brick cellar, or basement wall. 
The old basement had been filled in with this miscellaneous matter. When 
the street was graded (perfect or not) it had begun, of course, to gradually 
settle, and the result was the pipe had deflected in the center some 15 inches, 
and naturally the result of that was breaks (three in all), and finally after 
having spent a large amount of money, the owners, the Boston Gas Light 
Co., concluded that the better way would be to tear out the walls and lay 
new pipes. Such use, or misuse, as that to which pipes are liable at times to 
be subjected is something that would not affect wrought-iron pipes as disas- 
trously as cast-iron. Of wrought-iron the smaller sizes, four to eight inches 
in diameter, readily bend to correspond to the degree of curve or deflection 
required. The question now comes up : How can you protect it from cor- 
rosion or rust ? Some people say cast-iron will last .forever ; some say 
wrought iron will ; some say that in 5, 7, 10 or 20 years cast-iron will rust 
out, and others, that wrought-iron will rust out in a few months. To all 
such statements I say that it all depends upon the conditions. 

I know of wrought-iron pipe 1% inches in diameter, lined with cement 
on the inside, laid near a salt marsh below the level of the tide, and that 
pipe was eaten through in 18 months, from the outside ; and therefore when 
a man tells me that a wrought-iron pipe will last forever, I tell him it de- 
pends upon circumstances and conditions. I have known it to be rusted 
out in 3 or 4 years, and I have known it in other conditions to last for 25 
years. I have here a piece of cast-iron pipe 10 inches in diameter ; it had 
been used on the supply main between the reservoir, supplying a mill village. 
The force pumps every morning pumped the canal water, which had received 
the washings and refuse matter and contaminations one way and another 
and of one kind and another from the various mills on the streams above, as 
well as the sewage of a large number of villages, and it wasn't the best 
water that could be obtained, probably, but those pumps forced the water 
through these pipes and it was drawn back again to be used through the 
mills. The pipe had been in 30 years, I think, and the pressure at the point 
where this pipe had been laid was 30 lbs. per inch. At the time I took this 
pipe up in 1875, the works of this corporation had been connected with the 
works of the City of Springfield. Their new supply in passing through this 
village (Indian Orchard,) had been connected with the mill pipes in order to 
give the mills an increased pressure to be used in case of fire ; there was a 
gate put in between the two systems and when turned on (this pressure — 76 
lbs. more than double the original pressure), several of the pipes burst. This 
was one of them. This piece was laid on top. The surface of the pipe had 
not been corroded to any appreciable extent. The piece of pipe was taken 
out in 1875 and was kicked around for months in my office and finally was 
packed up with other things and I but accidentally came across it a few days 
ago. There are two things connected with it that are of interest ; one is the 
non-corrosion of its surfaces, both that which was exposed to the water 
which was pumped back and forth through it, and the most perfect resist- 
ance to the outside corroding influence of the soil. The soil at that point 
was gravel. And another thing is the broken end, which I hadn't noticed 
until my attention was called to it to-day. I was told that it had been broken 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 645 



recently and I said, " no, sir." I looked at it ; apparently the fracture had 
been made to-day, although it had been exposed to the air in my office for 
the last ten years, there is hardly a speck of rust on the fractured end. It 
is a circumstance merely. In my experience I have cast-iron pipes, uncoated, 
for 6 or 7 years completely filled up, and I again repeat that cast-iron pipes 
may or may not last ; all depends upon the circumstances and we are not 
warranted in depending upon either. We have got to look upon exterior 
protection to prevent the commencing of the corroding action. The ques- 
tion then comes : What shall we use ? 

On cast-iron pipe we had about decided that the Dr. Angus Smith's process 
of coating the pipe is about as good as anything. I have seen pipes, I should 
say, to be within bounds, that have been in use fifteen years, that are in good 
condition. I have seen others in use five or seven years in horrible condi- 
tion. The inference is that the fault lies not in the principle, but in its 
faulty application. Therefore, I say in relation to that coating that in my 
opinion a perfect coating for cast-iron to prevent oxidation can be obtained. 
It all depends upon the requirements of the engineers — the backbone they 
use in making the manufacturers live up to their requirements — and the 
honesty of the manufacturers. You have all had experience in that line. 
Some do good and some poor work. And here we come to the question of 
wrought-iron pipe. And I thought, why couldn't that same coating be 
applied ? In looking into the matter I thought there might be some greater 
difficulties in applying it to wrought-iron than cast-iron pipe. Wrought- 
iron as it comes from the rolls in its naked state, as it might be called, has 
scales more or less upon it ; the scales may be fixed firmly to it, and it 
would require considerable effort to remove them. If the asphaltum, or 
coal tar, or " Smith process," or a similar mixture applied to it without re- 
moving the scales, I should not cousider it as being the best method to pur- 
sue. I think the pipe should be cleaned, and I suggested to the manufact- 
urers that they should remove the scales by acids or in any other way, and 
by the removal of these scales they then remove one of the greatest objec- 
tions to applying the process to wrought-iron pipe. The next question 
came, whether the mixture would penetrate and take hold on the iron in 
such a degree that it would become part of the surface of the iron and not 
be a superficial coating like a rubber band, which the slightest jar would 
flake off, but take hold and penetrate. At my request experiments were 
made on that, and we found that by changing the mixture, putting in more 
asphalt, using boiled linseed oil and using higher heat, we obtained a coat- 
ing that has been effective. I have seen some of this pipe, having laid 
some iS or 20 miles I think, and I have never known that coating to be 
abraided by shock or jar, only by very rough usage, and then only on the 
outside and in spots. I think that pipe was laid, most of it, two years ago 
this June. Since that time the process of manufacture has been so improved 
that now we should not find even that objection. 

There is now another coating called ' ' The Indestructible Metallic 
Coating. ' ' I asked the makers to send me samples. They came and I im- 
mersed some of them in water, some of them in dilute solutions of acids of 
various kinds and put some in old privy vaults. They remained there from 
a few days to a mouth, when taking them out — especially the one from the 
privy vault — I found that the coating had been dulled a little ; points scat- 



646 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



tered about on the surface had commenced to rust. I wrote them about it 
and as near as I could infer from the ensuing correspondence the fault lay 
in the cleaning of the iron before it was put in the bath. This mixture 
which they used to give it a protective coating had an affinity for and would 
alloy with iron and nothing else. It wouldn't alloy with sand or any of the 
impurities which more or less find their way into the mixture of the metal. 
And although they used as they thought extreme care in the cleaning, both 
by scraping the pipe and washing with various acids, yet there was liable to 
be left a little spot uncovered, and they afterwards adopted, after the first, 
the method of cleaning and dipping, of examining and re-cleaning and 
again dipping the pipe, the object being to detect these points that were not 
covered and cover them with the second bath, and as far as my examinations 
go at the present time I find them perfect. They have succeeded in the 
second bath in covering these spots. 

The first of this pipe I ever used was in the town of Chicopee. It was 
a single-coated Kalamein pipe without any other protection. The soil is 
clay. We laid that pipe in July, 1883, and about three weeks ago I had it 
dug up, and as far as I could discern in examining it, after cleaning off the 
dirt, mud and clay upon it by splashing water upon it, there was not a 
speck of rust upon it. 

From my experiments with the single-coated samples I expected to find 
some rust upon this pipe, but didn't find any. When we built the Ouincy 
works in 1883, the question of pipes came up, and I had so much faith in 
this Kalamein pipe that I advocated its use. 

The first appearance of this pipe to some of our Directors led them to 
think there was lead in the coating. We have no authentic record of lead 
poisoning from the use of lead for service pipes, but there is a prejudice in 
the minds of many that lead may not be the best thing for conducting 
water. To do away with that prejudice we decided to lay the Kalamein 
pipe coated with asphalt in addition. We found that in the Kalamein pipe 
the pores had been so filled that the asphalt wouldn't adhere or take hold 
as well as it would of the naked pipe, therefore in laying it, whenever it 
came in sudden contact with stone or in unloading it from cars, etc., the 
asphalt was more or less abraided, so that it was quite "speckled " when it 
got to its. In examining the pipes, in no instance did I find any fault or 
failing of the coating to adhere to the inside. We therefore had the 
wrought-iron pipe coated with Kalamein, and lined perfectly 011 the inside 
with asphalt, where it was applied for the purpose of doing away with the 
prejudice of the public against lead. I have in my hand a piece of this 
pipe which was laid in the town of Ouincy, which Mr. Hall, the Superin- 
tendent, sent me. In the various processes of handling, cutting, putting 
in and taking out of the vise, etc., pretty much all of the asphalt on the 
outside is gone. How much was gone before he took it up I could not say, 
but I presume not much of it. I don't find a speck of rust on it. The 
gloss is gone, but the Kalamein remains below. On the inside the asphalt 
is perfect except a few flakes at the end. On what was the lower side of the 
pipe, as it lay, there is a trifle of discoloration from the asphalt coating, but 
there is not a speck of rust in that. Now, in relation to wrought-iron pipe with 
asphalt coating only, I will say that last fall we had occasion to take up a half- 
mile of six-inch pipes to transfer them. We took it apart as«well as we could and 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 647 



as carefully.and we transported it about a mile and relaid it. Before it was cov- 
ered I examined it and I didn't think the asphalt coating had been hurt suffi- 
ciently to go to the expense of recoatiug it. It was practically perfect. Mr. 
Lane, Superintendent of the Gas Works, tells me that in examining them 
whenever he has occasion to make connections, etc., he has never yet found 
a place where the asphalt was abraided or found symptoms of rust on the 
outside. These are my experiences with wrought-iron pipe coated with 
asphalt, with wrought-iron Kalameined pipe and with the same with asphalt 
on top of it. This wrought-iron pipe is very good for suction pipe. We 
have one line 2,400 feet in length, with a lift approximating 23 feet. That 
pipe is laid along the highway and through fields, and in order to keep below 
the hydraulic grade we went to a depth of 18 feet. That pipe was laid two 
or three years ago, and I haven't heard any complaint of it since. In the 
same town is laid a line of pipe with not quite so long or high a lift ; it is 
made of cast-iron, has been tried and it is found impossible to keep it tight 
for any length of time. It has ordinary lead joints. 

In reference to these samples which Mr. Holden has presented for in- 
spection, I observe that all of them have cut ends, that is, they were cut out 
of a longer length of pipe, and the cut or unprotected ends were submitted 
to the same test or experiment as the remaining portions of the pipe. That 
is of course hardly a fair manner of test. It is well known that between un- 
protected iron and zinc immersed in water galvanic action will take place, 
and as there is zinc in this Kalamein coating, it is no wonder that the sur- 
face of the pipe has been in some places destroyed ; the only wonder is that 
it was not more badly injured. 

One of these samples, the one which was immersed in sulphuric acid, 
you will observe was cut from the end of a piece of pipe ; one end of this 
sample was unprotected while the other end was protected the same as the 
outer or inner surfaces of the pipe. On this cut end the sulphuric acid has 
eaten into and destroyed the structure of the iron, while the other end is 
hardly affected, there being but one or two minute pin holes. This test I 
should say was a most valuable one to prove the efficiency of this Kalamein 
coating in protecting wrought-iron pipe. On the cut end you see the de- 
structive effects of the acid upon unprotected iron, while on the other end 
you see an almost perfect protection. 

In examining the analysis made by Professor Thompson, I notice 
that he finds 110 nickel in the mixture, whereas it is a fact that can 
be substantiated that this Kalamein coating as manufactured by the 
National Tube Works Company, is composed of four metals, lead, tin, 
zinc and nickel ; the latter does not lose its identity, I am informed by 
chemists, in the mixture, and it should be found by even the most 
superficial chemical analysis. I do not detract from Prof. Thompson's 
reputation as a man or as a chemist. I have known him many years, he 
being the President of the Worcester County Institute of Technology, which 
is located in my native city, and he there earned the respect and confidence 
of all who knew him. From there he was called to Terre Haute to take 
and fill a most importation position, which he occupied till the time of his 
death, a few weeks ago. I think he must have labored under some mis- 
understanding of the circumstances and conditions or claims of and concern- 
ing this Kalamein pipe in making the tests and experiments referred to by 



648 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the committee. And as it seems lie made these tests with samples having 
unprotected ends, and in his analysis failed to find a most important and 
valuable metal contained in this Kalamein mixture, I think I am warranted 
in drawing the conclusion that his tests and the results derived therefrom 
were made upon the strength of false representations, and the analysis, I 
presume, was made 03^ some of his assistants rather than by him, which 
would account for its glaring inaccuracy. 

Considering these conditions and the remarkably good state in which 
these samples — most of them — are, I think that the Kalamein pipe has 
passed through the ordeal of a partisan criticism in a remarkably good 
manner. 

Mr. Payne : I would like to ask for information as to the best manner 
of connecting service pipes with this Kalamein pipe. We have a little over 
two miles of this pipe. The superintendent preceding me put in "T's," and 
we find it necessary to make connections between joints, but inconvenient 
to dig the whole length of the street to find the "T." We have tried 
several ways. We have put in wrought-iron bands, with a hole in the band, 
but we had several cases where, after a little over two years, the thread on 
the bolt had rusted off and loosened up the band, and I found a bad leak 
between the saddle of the band and the pipe. I made cast-iron clamps and 
made connections in the same way, but for a large-sized pipe it would not 
be suitable, being too clumsy and heavy. I would like to know the best 
means of making permanent connections. 

Mr. Howland : In reply, I would state that I do not know as I can 
say just what is the best. I have used two different methods ; one is the 
insertion of a nipple having expanded studs in the inside, and then screwing 
down against the gasket a check nut, but on the smaller sizes of pipe it is 
objectionable, as it forms a projection for floating particles to lodge against. 
It is the nucleus of an obstruction. Its advantage, however, is that it pro- 
tects almost entirely the hole through the side of the pipe from the direct 
action of the water. The other method is a clamp or saddle, of which the 
main body is cast-iron, fastened wdth a flat strap of wrought iron. I have 
never yet had any trouble with those, and they have now been in use two 
years. 

Mr. Payne : Wrought-iron in our soil rusts out very quickly, but our 
main trouble has been bolting the clamps together, because the threads rust 
off the bolt. 

After a few remarks as to bolt connections, Mr. E. C. Converse, Assist- 
ant General Manager of the National Tube Works Company, spoke as 
follows : 

Mr. Converse: Gentlemen — Representing the National Tube Works 
Company, a few remarks as to the mode of manufacturing Kalamein pipe 
may not be inappropriate or uninteresting. 

As the name is in no wise indicative of the material, a great many peo- 
ple who have never seen this pipe or know the details of its manufacture 
may possibly have imagined that it was composed of some newly discovered 
metal. As a matter of fact it has for a basis wrought-iron. 

I do not think it will be necessary to go into a long dissertation on the 
subject of wrought-iron pipe ; you all know what it is and most of you have 
used it. The National Tube Works Company have been manufacturing 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 649 



wrought-iron pipe for about sixteen years, first in East Boston, Mass., and 
since 1872 at McKeesport, Pa. The McKeesport works cover over thirty 
acres of ground and employ 3,000 men. Up to 1875 and 1876 we had never 
made any special class of wrought-iron pipe for water works purposes ; up 
to that time the class of wrought-iron pipe which had been used for water 
and gas works had been what is called Standard Steam, Gas and Water pipe ; 
it is doubtless well known to all present ; the mode of connection is a screw 
and socket joint. Various means have been taken to protect the iron from 
the influence of corrosion, among which may be mentioned tar and asphalt 
coating, galvanizing, enamel and rubber coating. Our attention had long 
been drawn to the immense quantity of cast-iron pipe used in the construc- 
tion of water and gas works. The reason why wrought-iron pipe had not 
been used more extensively for these purposes was because of its first cost. 

We had supplied large quantities of wrought-iron pipe for water lines at 
various points on the Pacific coast and to the various mining districts 
throughout the West. The enormous cost of transportation rendered it in- 
cumbent upon the buyer to select the highest class of pipe which would 
meet his requirements. We then determined to enlarge our field of opex _ a- 
tions by designing a joint which would maintain the full strength of the 
iron in the body of the pipe. It is well known that a portion of the ordi- 
nary screw joint pipe is cut away in forming the thread, and that for this 
reason a heavier pipe than is otherwise necessary is made to provide for the 
weakening in cutting this thread. We knew that if a Joint could be de- 
signed that would not detract from the original strength of the iron an arti- 
cle would thus be brought into the market which for great strength and 
reliability would attract the attention of all progressive engineers. 

After many experiments and numberless models, our present Converse 
Lock Joint was invented and wrought-iron pipe then entered the field fully 
equipped in first cost and adaptability. 

The protection to the cast-iron at first employed was a mixture of 
asphalt, coal tar, etc., the pipe being heated and immersed therein. It w T as 
generally the custom to ship a barrel or two of this mixture to the contractor, 
and after the pipe had been laid, to "slush" it with this liquid mixture, 
which would re-coat any portions of the iron which were exposed. We were 
constantly on the alert to get a better means of preventing corrosion, if such 
existed. My personal attention was called to this Kalameiu process some 
years ago. It was being put on shingles for roofing purposes both here and 
in England. In talking with the owner of the process I could obtain no par- 
ticulars, although I was invited to see the process in operation. I accepted 
the invitation and visited his shop and was at once convinced that the pro- 
cess was very different from galvanizing, which it somewhat resembled. The 
owner would give no particulars, as the process was not then patented, and 
as he asked a fabulous price I paid no more attention to the matter until 
about three years afterwards. My attention was then called to the exten- 
sive use of Kalamein sheet-iron both in this country and abroad. I then 
succeeded in obtaining a schedule of the ingredients, wdiich I found were 
lead, tin, nickel and zinc, the latter used in small quantities. The well known 
non-corrosive characteristics of lead and its heavy body made that metal the 
basis of the alloy, although by no means predominant ; the admixture of tin 
made it more fluid and detracted from any of the peculiarities of lead as a 



650 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



single metal. Zinc was added to harden and nickel as a "binder." These 
four metals compounded in a certain manner, placed in contact with the iron 
pipe under certain conditions, became a distinctive metal, and a thorough 
alloy to and with the iron pipe. This we thoroughly demonstrated after a 
long series of tests in our laboratory, and after having submitted the matter 
to other competent chemists. 

Shortly afterwards we commenced operations and became more familiar 
and skillful in the manipulation of this process, we reached our present 
high standard of excellence by the elimination of all zinc and the substitu- 
tion therefor of two other non-corrosive metals of great purity. When Mr. 
Rowland heard of the new process we had obtained for the protection of the 
pipe from the influences of corrosion he made inquiries and asked for 
samples ; he has so fully explained his experience with Kalamein pipe that 
it is not necessary for me to say more than that he took the greatest interest 
in our success. He visited our works, saw the process and critically exam- 
ined every part of it ; it was after his valuable suggestion that we submitted 
all water and gas pipe to a double treatment ; that is, we put it all through 
the same process twice. 

A brief summary of the Kalamein process is as follows : The necessary 
metals are first compounded in a laboratory ; although the process is pateuted 
you are well aware that there are many points connected with the patent, 
covering an admixture of metals, which it is absolutely necessary to keep 
from prying eyes, to prevent attempted imitation. The necessary metals 
are compounded and run into ingots ; these are melted in a large bath and 
kept in a molten state at a degree of heat approximating 725 degrees. The 
iron to be treated is first immersed in a cleansing bath, heated with steam. 
This removes the surplus loose scale, as well as the dirt, grease and other 
foreign substances. The iron is then thoroughly washed and allowed to 
remain in running water for 24 hours. It is then scraped and examined, 
when it is ready for the neutralizing or preparing bath. When taken there- 
from the iron is in proper condition to come in contact with the molten 
alloy in the large bath, for which at this time it has an affinity. It is then 
immersed into the molten alloy, which immediately sinks into the body of 
the iron and becomes a part of it. It is a matter of fact that the alloy, com- 
posed of the non-corrosive metals, and the iron, become so thoroughly 
amalgamated as to render it impossible to again separate them, except 
partially so at a degree of heat equal to that at which they were united. 

The pipe is then immersed in another large tank, containing a mixture 
of pure Trinidad asphalt, tar, etc., in which it is allowed to remain until it is 
brought up to the proper heat — about 300 degrees — at which time it is taken 
from the bath and allowed to drip and then placed on the platform ready 
for shipping. 

I have now described Kalamein pipe, and we would be much pleased to 
give an ocular demonstration to any of your engineers who desire to see the 
process. 

A few remarks now regarding the report of part of your committee, 
embodying therein the results of the test by Prof. Thompson. Where Prof. 
Thompson obtained samples on which he operated I do not know. He 
never applied to us for them. The first we knew of any committee having 
been appointed by this Association to report on Kalamein pipe, was certain 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 651 



rumors in the market that something had been said at your last meeting. 
Upon making inquiries we found that your late president had made a few 
remarks and had appointed a committee to report at your meeting to-day. 
Shortly afterwards we wrote to your late president, Mr. Briggs, who made 
the remarks at your previous meeting, stating in effect that we would like 
him to appoint a time and place at which we could be on hand with our 
experts, and at which time we could, in connection with the committee, make 
a series of comparative tests. The reply was a decided refusal to our request. 
Afterwards we heard that Prof. Thompson had made some certain experi- 
ments and we wrote to our various houses to know if they had given him 
any samples, and if so, which ones. In reply we heard from our Chicago 
office that they had given Mr. Briggs some samples, which had been made 
soon after we first commenced to use this process ; they were single-treated. 

I afterwards applied to Mr. Briggs through one of our travelling men 
for a copy of the Thompson report, which I had been informed had been 
embodied in a pamphlet issued by a cast-iron syndicate for advertising pur- 
poses. It is needless to say that I could not obtain a copy from this source. 
I had heard that it had been embodied in a pamphlet with other alleged 
quotations from water works reports. After finally obtaining one of these 
pamphlets I discovered that many of the quotations were garbled and al- 
tered to suit the purposes of the anonymous authors. 

Now, to return to Professor Thompson's report : It is not for me to 
throw any discredit upon its motives, since the Professor is debarred oppor- 
tunity to reply ; it stands for itself. I simply w r ant to call your attention to 
one or two matters, and they can have such weight as you choose to give 
them. Professor Thompson distinctly states that Kalamein pipe rusted 
slightly at the fresh cut ends. Why should they not, let me ask ? If the 
fresh cut end rusted slightly in fresh water it was because they were simply 
unprotected iron. Now, I state distinctly, that it is the custom of chemists 
when treating samples of iron pipe for its inner and outer surfaces, to wax 
and thus protect the fresh cut ends. We have conducted hundreds of ex- 
periments with cast-iron and wrought-iron pipe, and we have seen many 
other such experiments conducted. It is always customary to wax 
the fresh cut ends and thus confine the action of the acids or waters to the 
surfaces of the pipe, which will be the ones exposed in actual use. People 
do not lay pipe with fresh cut ends, nor is any test so made a fair one in any 
sense of the word. 

In so testing the samples, Professor Thompson has not given them fair 
play. Again, he makes some remarks about lead being poisonous. He 
says something like this : " That lead is poisonous is a fact (see such and 
such Massachusetts records) ; and that zinc may poison is well known (see 
some other records). ' ' 

Well, we may all be struck by lightning ; it is possible, but not 
probable ; and the idea of lead and zinc poison is thoroughly exploded. 
There are thousands upon thousands of tons of pure lead pipe which are 
and have been conveying drinking waters to the public all over the United 
States and the world for years. Now, we have had numerous tests made 
by chemists of equal responsibility, and they are as well known as Pro- 
fessor Thompson, and in no one case have we found the presence of lead in 
the water, even after the pipe has been immersed therein for over a year. 



652 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We had a warranty upon that point before we touched this process, and we 
made and conducted our own experiments in substantiation thereof. I pre- 
sume that the samples that the late Professor Thompson operated upon 
were those obtained from Mr. Briggs. As he shows zinc in the analyses 
they were of necessity made when we first commenced to use the process. 
As zinc has been entirely eliminated, the comparison with our present pro- 
ducts falls flat. Now, if those samples were obtained from Mr. Briggs in 
the manner hereinbefore mentioned, and if they were bona fide Kalamein 
samples, they contained nickel in sufficient quantities to have been found in 
the analysis. Nickel has always been found in all the analyses which have 
been made to determine the ingredients of the alloy. Why did not the late 
Professor Thompson find it? It was there. 

Mr. Howland has referred to "pocket samples." I do not take much 
stock in pocket samples. If it comes to an exhibition of " pocket samples," 
I have in my trunk up stairs a great curiosity in the way of cast-iron pipe, 
which is so filled with tubercular incrustations that the point of the little 
finger can scarcely be inserted in the original bore ; and yet it is no more 
indicative of what such first-class new goods are than the worst pocket 
sample that is alleged to be Kalamein pipe. I do not want to be understood 
as casting any slur upon any one class of merchandise because some one 
individual sample is not quite right. " Pocket samples " are curiosities and 
should be generally so considered. This point should be firmly borne in 
mind. 

Now, with reference to all these chemical analyses, they can only serve 
as indicators. It is very easy to destroy cast-iron pipe with acid solutions, 
but since a chemical analysis, made unfairly, as I have shown, forms the 
basis of a report of a part of your committee, I will read you a chemist's 
report, so that it can be placed side by side with the one you have heard 
read by Mr. Holden, but who refused to sign it. 

The President : As it is one o'clock, I think you had better postpone 
the reading until the afternoon session. 

Adjourned. 



Second Day, Afternoon Session, Aprill 22, 1885. 

Called to order by Mr. George A. Ellis. 

Mr. Converse: As the proceedings of the Association are rather 
behind time, I will save you the infliction of any long speech and draw my 
remarks to a close. 

I will now read you the report of Prof. Wuth, an analytical chemist of 
Pittsburgh, Pa. He is consulted by all the firms in that part of the country 
and his reputation is second to no chemist in the United States. His report is 
made after a series of some six months testing and may therefore be looked 
upon, I think, with more importance than that which has been submitted 
by a part of your committee : 

Pittsburgh, Pa., March 30th, 1885. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., National Tube Works Co., McKeesport, Pa. 

Dear Sir : At your request I have made exhaustive experiments in regard to the 
stability of your Kalamein-Silvertin pipes to resist the destructive influences of acids, salt 
water and alkalies and found that diluted sulphuric acid, after several weeks of treatment, 
did not have any perceptible effect on the coating, and this is really the only acid to be 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 653 



considered. Very dilute hydrochloric acid did but slightly attack it ; it resisted the action 
of salt water very well, also of alkaline solutions. Care, of course, should be taken to have 
the coating perfect, as, on account of galvanic action, wherever the coating should be re- 
moved from the iron the action of acids or salt water would be more destructive than on 
plain unprotected iron. The double coating with Kalamein-Silvertin and asphaltum will 
undoubtedly make the action of alkalies and acids an absolute impossibility, unless by 
mechanical means the coating should be removed and the iron uncovered. 

(Signed) Otto Wdth. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., April ist, 1885. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., National Tube Works, Co., McKeesport, Pa. 

Dear Sir: — Supplementary to my report of March 30th, as to the results of the ex- 
haustive experiments which I had made in regard to the stability of your water pipe 
treated by the Kalamein-Silvertin and asphaltum processes, I would state that I consider 
your pipe, when properly treated, practically impervious to the action of corrosion when 
laid in the ground. Further, the result of my research enables me to conclude that your 
water and gas pipe as above described is superior in point of duration and serviceability 
combined, to cast-iron pipe ordinarily sold for such purposes. 

(Signed) Otto Wdth. 

I will now read the report of a prominent western chemist, who was not 
employed by us, but by some capitalists out in Denver, for their own inter- 
ests, to decide the merits of our Kalamein pipe, and unbeknown to us. We 
did not know of this report until some weeks after it had been given. The 
chemist's name is A. Von Shultz, and he is employed mostly by the mining 
interests. 

Denver, Col., April 17th, 1884. 

Gentlemen: — In regard to the three samples of Kalameined, galvanized and ordinary 
sheet-iron, which you submitted to me for examination as to their usefulness for different 
purposes, I would rank them in the following order : ist, Kalamein ; 2nd, sheet-iron ; 3rd, 
galvanized iron. 

With the Kalamein in an acidulated water of ten per cent, sulphuric acid, shows a loss 
of only fifteen one-hundredths of one percent. 

The ordinary sheet-iron suffered one of 3.01 of one per cent, and the galvanized iron, 
as was to be expected, one of seventy-one one-hundredths of one per cent., after an expos- 
ure of only twenty minutes. In an acidulated water of only two one-hundredths of one 
per cent, sulphuric acid, the losses in weight after an exposure of eighteen hours, were as 
follows : 

Kalamein, twelve one-hundredths of one per cent. 

Sheet-iron, two and twenty one-hundredths of one per cent. 

Galvanized iron, two and fifty-one one-hundredths of one per cent. 

Thus showing that the Kalamein is much superior to the galvanized iron in resisting 
action of acids. In bending and rebending a sheet of galvanized iron it shows a tendency 
to scale off, thus exposing the surface of the iron underneath. When once this exposure 
has taken place a galvanic action sets in and destruction of the whole sheet follows very 
rapidly. The Kalamein, on the other hand, does not show the least sign of scaling off, 
after repeated doubling up and backward and forward bending. This seems to prove that 
in Kalamein the coating is more thoroughly united with the underlaying sheet-iron, form- 
ing seemingly a superficial alloy with it. The superiority of Kalamein for roofing pur- 
poses, for the manufacture of water pipes, kitchen utensils, etc., etc., seems to be obvious 
on account of the qualities shown above, and to place it far above the galvanized iron, 
painted sheet iron, or any other similar material coated with substances now in use. Its 
lesser weight in comparison to an equal superficial surface of galvanized or ordinary sheet- 
iron, and its lesser cost, are a further recommendation for its introduction in commerce. 
(Signed) A. Von Shultz. 

To conclude, I want to refer to the class of iron forming the body of 
Kalamein pipe. Before coming on here I took some pieces of the pipe and 
sent them to the Pittsburgh, Pa., testing laboratory, where they were 
tested, with the following result : The first piece pulled 56,920 ; the second 
piece pulled 55,980 ; the third piece pulled 57,440. 



654 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



You are doubtless aware that Trautwine gives the tensile or cohesive 
strength of wrought iron, ordinary average, 44,800 ; wrought iron, good 
average, 50,400 ; and it will therefore be seen that the pipe from which our 
water and gas Kalamein pipe is manufactured shows an average of 6,000 
pounds more tensile strength than is a good average. 

In the same way we have endeavored in our water works supplies to 
obtain the very best of the different classes of material. Our castings con- 
tain iron of a superior quality. We compared a coupon cut from one of our 
fittings with a coupon cut from a piece of cast-iron pipe obtained from 
the City of McKessport. These coupons were tested at the Pittsburgh 
testing laboratory, February 13th, 1885, and with the following result as 
per their certificate : Our cast-iron fittings, 26,110 lbs. ; cast-iron pipe, 
15,760 lbs. 

There are large quantities of Kalamein pipe in use. I would here state 
that in Oil City, Pa., alone there is a system of 22 miles of it used for con- 
ducting natural gas. You all know the character of natural gas ; that it 
will explode when mixed with air iu certain proportions, and that it will 
hang like a cloud around the point of escape, and not rise and be borne 
away, as is the case with manufactured gas. The Oil City works have been 
in operation for two years ; they consist of a trunk line of our Converse 
Lock Joint Kalamein pipe, taking natural gas from 17 wells to Oil City. 
This line was tested under a pressure of 100 pounds to the square inch, and 
is still working at a regular pressure of 60 pounds. This may not seem a 
large pressure for manufactured gas, but for natural gas it requires good 
material and workmanship to prevent leakage. Notwithstanding this large 
system of 22 miles, with the 2,500 service connections and the high pressure, 
there has not been the least accident. At Ouincy, Mass., there are 22 miles 
in use, and anybody can go up there and see the pipe who is interested 
enough to take the short trip. The Columbia (Tenn.) works and the Wells- 
ville (N. Y.) works are all laid with Kalamein pipe. I could read you for 
hoursdetters of recommendation from those who have used this Kalamein 
pipe, letters universally flattering in their character. 

Mr. Fitzgerald : Has there been any tensile strength of the pipe after 
the process has been applied ? 

Mr. Howland : I have taken, I think, a six-inch pipe (it may have 
been a four-inch) with Converse lock joints, made in the usual manner, and 
subjected to a pressure of 1,000 pounds to the square inch without any frac- 
ture of the metal or leakage through the joints. 

Mr. Randall ; I would like to ask about what percentage for addi- 
tional cost upon the raw piping does this double treatment exact, if it can 
be answered ? 

Mr. Converse : I will have to answer that in general terms. It costs 
according to the thickness of the iron, because the process, like galvaniz- 
ing, is charged so much per pound on the finished weights. In regard to 
the tensile strength, I would state that this process has an annealing and 
softening effect, and testing at the laboratory for comparative tensile strength 
before and after treatment shows scarcely any perceptible difference. 

Mr. How/and : I desire to call the attention of the Convention to a 
pamphlet, which I hold in my hand, bearing the title on the outer cover of 
"Information and Results of Experiments on Various Metals used for 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 655 



Water Pipes." On the title page the same statement is repeated, with the 
additional one of " Containing a Report of the American Water Works 
Association on Kalamein Pipe," etc. This pamphlet bears no name of 
authorship, or any trace by which its origin can be surmised, except the 
imprint of a firm of printers in Cincinnati, which is, " Cincinnati, Robert 
Clark & Co., 1884." In reply to an inquiry sent these parties, they say, 
under date of April 2d, 1885 : 

The pamphlet you mention we do not know, and regret to say that we are unable to 
find any trace of the same whatsoever ; it must have been issued in some other city. 
Yours truly, Robert Clark & Co. 

The pamphlet, therefore, may be considered as an entirely anonymous 
and unverified one, and the animus which caused its publication can only be 
inferred by the matter contained therein. The first few pages are devoted 
to a screed against all pipes excepting cast-iron, and in garbled quotations 
and unsubstantialized statements regarding other pipes. Next appears, 
under a heading in large capitals, "The Report of the Committee of the 
American Water Works Association on Kalamein Pipe," which is substanti- 
ally as read by Mr. Holden, and, as far as the report of Prof. Thompson is 
concerned, is absolutely the same, word for word. After this there appears 
what purports to be extracts from reports in relation to the water works of 
the cities of Lowell, New Bedford, Worcester, Salem and Hartford. These 
statements are erroneous, having been changed from the authorized reports 
as published by these various cities in six different places to read " wronght- 
iron pipe " or " wrought pipe " in place of cement-lined pipe, as it appears 
in the original reports. In substantiation that these changes were made 
and that these extracts are forgeries, I have here the annual reports of the 
cities in question, and also personal letters from Mr. Holden, Superintendent 
of Lowell, and Mr. Hall, now of Quiuc)- and formerly of Worcester, in 
which they say that their reports are entirely different from that given in 
this pamphlet, and Mr. Holden says in his that " the person who published 
that statement is evidently a fraud." I first saw this pamphlet in Chicago 
in December, 1884, four months ago, and four months before our committee 
had reported. The whole matter is a fraud gotten up for the designed pur- 
pose of misleading the public in relation to the question of water pipe, and 
to give it the color of truth and importance they had stolen from some one 
a report of the committee of this association, which report has just been 
presented, and have printed forged extracts from reports made by honored 
members of this association. 

77/i? Secretary : As this pamphlet has been issued without the knowl- 
edge or consent of this Association or its executive committee, yet claiming 
indirectly to have been, it is but proper that some notice be taken of it ; I 
will therefore move : That this association totally disclaim any part in it or 
knowledge of its publication. Unanimously adopted. 



TEAVERS DANIEL, C, E. 

Columbia, Tenn., February 27th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

Yours of 20th received. To prove what I have said about tuberculated 
cast-iron pipes, take one up and heat it to a dull red and jar it with a ham- 



656 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



mer, when its unfitness for further service will be fully demonstrated. The 
question was first brought to notice some years ago by pipes conveying Pas- 
saic River water, which was a bad case. 

Columbia, Tenn., May 4th, 1885. 
National Tube Works Co. 

I notice in the Engineering News of May 2d, a report of the meeting of 
the American Water Works Association, held at Boston, at which you were 
present. 

We have had your pipe in the ground here about 18 months. We have 
never had a leaky pipe, or a broken or cracked one. It ran to this date un- 
der a very heavy pressure ; whenever we have had to uncover the pipe to 
make a tap, we find the surface just as fresh "as the day we received it from 
your works. It looks as if its life would be on the Methuselah order. We 
would not hesitate to recommend its use under a'ny trying service. Mr. J. 
M. Carson, one of the Committee on Kalamein pipe, is and has long been an 
employee of Dennis, Long & Company. I know him well. The point of 
the cast-iron pipe people is to try and discredit investment in water works 
bonds where Kalamein is used, and every available means will be taken by 
them to give you trouble. I trust I will get your dispatch to-morrow giving 
me prices of pipe as requested. 

(Signed) Travers Daniel. 



THOMAS J. BELL. 

This gentleman, who used to be Superintendent of the Cin- 
cinnati Water Works, called upon us April 28th, 1885, on busi- 
ness. 

In mentioning to him the fact of the quotation of a private 
letter written by him, having been used in the cast-iron pam- 
phlet, Mr. Bell stated that the letter was written long ago, re- 
ferred to wrought-iron pipe, unprotected, as a class, and should 
in no way be mixed up as reflecting any discredit upon the dur- 
ability of our piping being furnished for water and gas ; that 
the language of his letter was improperly used and that he 
would cheerfully make this statement at any time. 



REGARDING J. G. BRIGGS, OF TERRE HAUTE, IND. 

We will conclude this chapter by reproducing two letters 
which were shown us in Mr. Briggs' own handwriting, one of 
which we had photo-engraved and which is therefore an exact 
fac-simile. They are self-explanatory. The first one shows his 
close relations with the Cast-Iron Syndicate ; the second his 
confusion, disappointment and defeat. At the time the latter 
was written, Mr. Guilford was the Contracting Agent of the 



CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 657 

cast-iron pipe manufacturers, Dennis, Long & Company, with 
headquarters at Chicago. The samples which Mr. Briggs speaks 
of burying in the worst places he could, were the ones given 
Prof. Thompson. It will also be noticed, that it was decided to 
again make an analysis for nickel, so as to, if possible, contra- 
dict Mr. Converse's statement at the Boston convention ; as 
nothing ever came of it, the second attempt must have brought 
out the nickel. It will also be observed that one piece was not 
half as bad as he thought it would be ; that he wanted to put 
the samples where they '' wou'd do the most good," and then 
that he had no patience with the cast-iron people for not sending 
more representatives to Boston to debate the question with Mr. 
Converse : and the amusing part of his letter is where he testi- 
fies to Mr. Guilford that " he (myself and Thompson) were 
slaughtered." In answer to this letter of Mr. Briggs, Mr. Guil- 
ford replied from Chicago, under the date of December 24th, 
expressing regret that Thompson's report was altered and made 
public before it reached the American Water Works Association, 
and advising Briggs not to think of exhibiting the samples. 

As Mr. Briggs was one of a committee appointed to report 
as to the merits of Kalamein pipe, and is proven to have been in 
league with the Cast-Iron Syndicate at the time, this fac-simile 
letter seems to be the only remaining link that it is necessary 
for us to add to the strong chain of evidence against the methods 
pursued by the Cast-Iron Syndicate, their hirelings and parti- 
sans. 

Office of Terre Haute Water Works Company, 
J. G. Briggs, Superintendent, 

Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 5th, 1884. 
Dennis, Long & Company, Louisville, Ky. 

At the last meeting of the American Water Works Association, I had a 
committee apppointed to test Kalamein pipe ; J. M. Carson, Chairman. At 
his request, I put the matter in the hands of Prof. Thompson, of our Poly- 
technic. He has just returned a five page report, with thirteen samples, 
two of which are in glass jars. He condemns it. 

Mr. Davis, of the Newport Pipe Company, said he would be responsible 
for the amount to be paid experts. I propose to Mr. Carson that he comes 
here on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week ; that one of your folks and 
Mr. Davis meet him. I would like to have you all see the stuff as it is, as 
the jars cannot be shipped. 

Respectfully, 
(Signed) J. G. Briggs. 

P. S. — We have been at considerable trouble about this pipe on our own 
and your (Cast-iron Syndicate's) account, and I would like to have you help 
us out on the best means of making it of value. 

(Signed) B. 



658 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 




CAST-IRON SYNDICATE. 



659 



v \S $s 



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660 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



RETRACTION. 



As a fitting postscript to the foregoing chapter, we will lay 
before you the correspondence that recently passed between the 
author and President Matthew Addy, in which the latter made 
full retraction of the libelous utterances and official writings of 
Mr. E. A. Kebler, Contracting Agent, after a thorough investi- 
gation of the facts in the case. 

Taken in connection with the exposure made by Mr. Guilford 
at Mishavvaka, which we have published at length, beginning 
on page 80, this case will be read with interest, and will stand 
as a monument of the underhanded, libelous and dishonorable 
methods pursued by certain of the cast-iron pipe makers. It 
has been our experience that the more prominent the cast-iron 
maker, and the better reputation he has enjoyed in the mer- 
cantile world, the more outrageously dishonest have been his 
methods when competing with wrought-iron pipe. 

There are exceptions, of course. There can be no question 
respecting the high standing of the Addy concern in the mer- 
cantile world, yet look at this case in its entirety. 

By reading the correspondence carefully you will see that 
old gentleman Addy did everything in the world to avoid being 
pinned down to any responsibility. 

The excuse that such a salesman unauthoritatively pursued 
unfair tactics is no excuse at all other than a mere subterfuge. 
The manager of a concern knows perfectly well what methods 
are pursued by the salemen, as a rule. There may be isolated 
cases which are exceptions, but this man Kebler has pursued 
these tactics over and over again, and he simply was caught by 
accident. Take R. D. Wood & Co. Their tactics have been 
quite similar to those of Matthew Addy's people. 

A notable exception is the Warren Foundry and Machine 
Co., owned by the Runkles, to whom we refer all customers de- 
siring to purchase cast-iron pipe. 



RETRACTION. 661 



There may be, and probably are, cast-iron concerns who 
are perfectly honorable and upright in their competition against 
wrought-iron, but in all of our business experience we have 
never run across such tactics as these cast-iron men have con- 
stantly employed in endeavoring to retain the prestige they are 
rapidly losing. 

Had it not been for this class of competition the writer 
never would have spent the time and expense of compiling 
Facts About Pipe. We have run across anonymous circulars 
and anonymous letters, samples subjected to acids, and every 
conceivable trick and fraud that the devil himself could invent 
during our fifteen years' campaign. 

Even the records of the American Water Works Association 
have been mutilated and "doctored" in the attack upon our 
goods. Anonymous letters with forged imprints make their 
periodical appearance — sometimes preceding, sometimes follow- 
ing the presence of representatives of certain manufacturers. 
The appearance of the anonymous letter is so peculiarly coinci- 
dent with the movements of certain people, that we can now 
pretty well know when and where to expect it by simply keep- 
ing an eye upon the hotel register. 

The exposure made by Mr. Guilford at Mishawaka was not 
based upon any new departure at that town. A perusal of it 
will show that it was all written out before the meeting in the 
Council Chamber, and a careful study of how completely Mr. 
Guilford anticipated their methods and out-generaled them, 
will show with what regularity they ply their nefarious practice. 

In the sale of our specialties for gas and water pipe sys- 
tems it must be borne in mind that before we took hold of this 
matter the use of wrought-iron pipe for gas and water distribut- 
ing mains in this country was unheard of, and we were forced 
to occupy the unpleasant position of pioneers. Notwithstand- 
ing the hard work which this has entailed, the very opposition 
that we have met has spurred us on to renewed efforts, and we 
have made very much better showing by means of this extra- 
ordinary competition than we otherwise could possibly have 
done. In the Converse Joint department we have been, and 
still are, under high pressure, and that is the proper way to 
run it. 

The correspondence follows, the Kebler and Addy letters 
being reproduced in fac simile. 



662 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 




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FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Telegram. 

New York, May 18, 1893. 
American Water Works and Guarantee Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Have copy of letter before rne written by the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company of Cin- 
cinnati to a contracting engineer, making following allegation : Quotation— Take for 
instance the American Water Works, who have plants scattered all over the country, and 
who number among their largest stockholders those largely interested in the National 
Tube Works, manufacturers of this pipe. They made a trial of the Kalamein pipe at Rock- 
ford, Illinois, and, as it did not give satisfaction, they have not used it anywhere else, but 
are putting in cast-iron for their extensions at Rockford. End of quotations— Is not this 
statement unqualifiedly false ? (Signed) E. C. Converse. 






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New York, June 5, 1893. 
Matthew Addy, Esq , President The Addyston Pipe & Steel Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Dear Sir: — We have before us a press copy of a typewritten letter, dated April 21st, and 
addressed to Jolm H. Warder — signed by your company, by E. A. Kebler ; and also your 
catalogue issued in 1S90. We have taken the suggestion contained in your letter, to wit : 
" Carefully read what is said in our (your) book on this pipe," to wit : Kalamein pipe. 
Aside frorn the false conclusions and insinuations covered by the text of your catalogue, 
we will at this time confine ourselves to the specific statements you have seen fit to make 
in your letter to Mr. Warder respecting the goods of our production, the good name and 
reputation of which is very valuable to us, and which we intend to defend. 

Your company is responsible for the action of its authorized agents and employes, and 
the name of the writer of this official letter to which we have referred— E). A. Kebler— ap- 
pears on the original letter-head as the Contracting Agent. 

In the first place, you know that the allegations contained in that letter (which was 
written to the engineer of a prosperous customer) are either true or false. We say " you 
know," because your letter states, "we are certain from our investigations," etc., etc. If 
your statements are true, you can prove them. If false, you cannot prove them, and must 
stand in the position of libelers. Your letter contains statements which are utterly false, 
and, therefore, libelous. For instance : you refer to our pipe as " Calamein pipe." We do 
not manufacture "Calamein pipe." That is the first false and malicious statement. We 
do make what we call and what is knowu to the trade as Kalamein pipe, and your own 
catalogue proves that you are aware of a distinction, although the formula of our alloy, 
which is put on and incorporated into the body of the wrought-irou or steel is not set forth 
in any patent, nor does it appear in your book, nor is it known to you or anybody else, 
other than the inventors and owners. 

You then say, " As you will see from it that Calamein pipe is very much thinner than 
either cast or even wrought-iron pipe." As this is a reference to our pipe, although you 
misquote the name by which it is known, we pronounce the statement absolutely untrue, 
insofar as it refers to wrought-iron pipe. 

By inference you then again falsify when you refer to our pipe being taken up because 
it " did not last well." 

If you argue that one or more pieces of pipe, removed for unserviceability, stamps the 
class and kind as undesirable for the uses for which it was originally sold, we call your 
attention to the fact that cast-iron pipe, removed for undesirability, is an article of common 
merchandise, offered by scrap dealers, and in this connection refer you to a daily advertise- 
ment appearing in the Chicago Mail, the official paper of the city of Chicago, offering 150 
tons of such cast-iron pipe scrap for sale. 

You then make a reckless and absolutely unwarranted statement, to wit : " Take for 
instance the American Water Works, who have plants scattered all over the country, and 
who number among their stockholders those largely interested in the National Tube Works, 
manufacturers of this pipe." (This phraseology fixes the reference.) We resume quota- 
tions : "They made a trial of the Calamein pipe at Rockford, 111., and as it did not give 
satisfaction they have not used it anywhere else, but are putting in cast-iron for their ex- 
tensions at Rockford." 

The writer is Vice-President of the water works company to which you refer, and pro- 
nounces the above statements bare-faced untruths. The water works company to which 
you refer, and in which the writer and others of the National Tube Works people are 
interested, has used a great deal of Kalamein pipe, and all of it is giving satisfactory service. 

The balance of your letter is on a parity with the first part. 

We address this letter to you, the President of the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company, 
because we have no knowledge whether you are aware of the methods resorted to by your 
" Contracting Agents." If you are aware of them, you are assumed to approve of them, 
because you do not discountenance them. If, on the other hand, you are not aware of them, 
we believe you will take the only course open for an honorable merchant, to wit : that you 
will make, or cause to be made for your company, an immediate, full and complete retrac- 
tion of the libelous statements which have been made of our good name, good will and the 
character of the products of our manufacture. 

This retraction we now demand. We further demand that you forthwith eliminate 
from your catalogue all similarly false and libelous statements regarding our products. 

If you choose to adopt this course, we will let the case drop without further action, and 
before taking any further steps in the matter by placing the case in the hands of our attor- 
neys, Sullivan & Cromwell, we shall wait a reasonable time for your reply. Yours truly, 
(Signed) E. C. Converse, 

General Manager. 



668 



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674 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The following copies of letters from the Addyston Pipe & 
Steel Company will explain themselves, and, taken in connec- 
tion with the foregoing correspondence, are very suggestive : 

Cincinnati, July 17, 1893. 
W. A. Roosevelt Company, La Crosse, Wis. 

Gentlemen : — We regret to say that the last edition of our regular 
catalogue is exhausted, and we cannot send you one as you request. We take 
pleasure in sending you, under a separate cover, two pamphlets describing 
cast-iron culvert pipe, as well as cast-iron water and gas pipe. We trust 
they will furnish you all the information you desire. 

Hoping that whenever you are in the market you will ask us for prices, 
we remain, Truly yours, 

(Signed) The Addyston Pipe & STEEL Co. 

L. F. Huntington. 



Cincinnati, July 17, 1893. 
Mr. A. D. Cunningham, Clinton, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : — We regret to say that the last edition of our regular cata- 
logue has been exhausted, and we cannot send you one as you request. We 
take pleasure, however, in sending you, under a separate cover, a pamphlet 
describing cast-iron culvert pipe. And this also includes a list of cast-iron 
water and gas pipe. We trust it will furnish you all the information you 
desire. 

Hoping that whenever you are in the market for prices on pipe 3'ou will 
call upon us, we remain, Truly yours, 

(Signed) The Addyston Pipe & Steel Co. 

L. F. Huntington. 



Cincinnati, July 17, 1893. 
Messrs. Robt. Lietch & Sons, Washington, D. C. 

Gentlemen : — As the last edition of our regular catalogue has been 
exhausted, we regret that we cannot send you one, as requested, but we 
take pleasure in sending you, under another cover, a pamphlet describing 
cast-iron culvert pipe. This also includes cast-iron water and gas pipe, and 
trust it will furnish you all the information you desire. 

As there is no regular price list on cast-iron pipe, we cannot offer you 
any jobbers' discount ; but whenever you have an inquiry for a quantity of 
pipe, and will refer the matter to us, we will take pleasure in giving you 
our lowest quotation and allow a liberal discount. Truly yours, 

(Signed) The Addyston Pipe & Steel Co. 

L. F. Huntington. 

We have also received the following : 

Rock Island, Illinois, July 18, 1893. 
Harry Raymond, Chicago, III. 

Dear Sir :— We have just received a letter from Addyston saying that 

the last edition of their catalogue has been exhausted, so they could not send 

us one. We are sorry. Yours truly, 

(Signed) Davis Co. 

Perl. B. Davis. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 675 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 

The facts herein contained prove the great progress made 
by the successful practical introduction of wrought-iron pipe 
and its absolute superiority over other classes of pipe, the prom- 
inent considerations in its favor being durability, service- 
ability, strength of material, minimum friction, minimum leak- 
age, minimum cost of maintenance, the impossibility of tuber- 
cular formations, economy in freight, handling, laying, lead, etc. 

In this wonderful age of progression, when primitive ideas 
and methods have been, and are being, filed away in the archives 
of the past, and the result of experiment, ingenuity and energy 
replacing former customs in mechanical science, the improve- 
ments in conduits for waters, gases, oils, etc., have undergone 
a marked revision within the past few years, and with such a 
result as to produce almost incalculable benefits to the engineer 
and to the public at large alike. 

Improvements have been made in materials composing the 
wrought-iron tubular goods required for these purposes, the 
sizes, thicknesses, methods of manufacture, making the neces- 
sary connections with such devices as to overcome possible 
difficulties, protecting the plain wrought-iron against the attacks 
of corrosion, thereby assuring serviceability, reducing friction 
in flow to the minimum, providing greater strength in material, 
reducing first cost of material and labor, and a thousand minor 
details in the manipulation of the appurtenances, all contributing 
to the attainment of the most satisfactory results. 

Of course, engineering experts have been, and naturally 
always will be to a certain extent, divided in their opinions as 
to the merits of materials and methods ; some engineers are 
progressive, others are not ; some are fearless after making 
thorough research, others satisfied with what was first suggested 
to them, and not inclined to take up anything " new," no matter 
how great its merit. 

But, again, referring to the great advancement made during 
late years in wrought-iron for water and gas works purposes, it 
is plainly apparent that its growth into popular favor, by the 
positive reasons of its comparative superiority, has been, and is, 
very noticeable. 

Of the various classes of pipes to be selected from at the 
present time, lap-welded wrought-iron pipe and cast-iron pipe 



676 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



virtually have the entire call, for water and gas works systems ; 
— cast-iron, by those who are "penny wise and pound foolish," 
when the first cost is less, and who feel that as others have used 
it and because its introduction antedates most other conduits, 
and wrought-iron by those, who, having acquainted themselves 
with its advantages, know that it will give the most satisfactory 
results. 

The extensive and perfected manufacture of wrought-iron 
pipe has not been known to the engineering world for as long 
a period as cast-iron ; hence it is but natural that the latter 
should have had an extensive sale ; but the foothold which 
wrought-iron has obtained of late years has been steadily in- 
creasing and is permanent. 

When a purchase of wrought-iron pipe was formerly con- 
templated in competition with cast-iron pipe (keeping in mind 
the fact, of course, that wrought-iron pipe has been used for a 
long period, but not so much in competition as for purposes 
where cast-iron pipe would have been out of the question), the 
party who might have known cast-iron pipe for a long time and 
not been acquainted with the details concerning wrought-iron, 
inquired first, as to the ability of wrought-iron to withstand the 
action of acids and alkalies found in nature. He may not have 
known that wrought-iron had been brought into active compe- 
tition with cast iron for mains within the past few years only ; he 
may have thought that the length of time cast-iron pipe had been 
sold, represented its life when laid ; he may not have been con- 
versant with the relative natures of the two finished metals ; he 
may not have known that cast-iron becomes filthy when 
wrought-iron remains clean ; he may not have known of the 
hundreds of thousands of tons of cast-iron pipe which are being 
constantly taken up, nor of the stench which arises from the 
water carrier when it is lifted ; he may never have seen these 
tuberculated masses of cast-iron pipe, so filled with incrusta- 
tions as to greatly decrease their inside diameters and diminish 
the supply accordingly ; he could never have seen or heard of 
these things, else his decision would be prompt in favor of 
wrought-iron pipe, properly protected. 

It is, of course, clearly understood that neither cast nor 
wrought-iron are ever considered perfection as carriers of waters 
or gases in their plain state — protection is always specified for 
both ; consequently we have not before us the question of the 
relative lasting qualities of either plain cast-iron or plain 
wrought-iron pipe. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 677 

It is important at this point, however, to state that for gas 
cast-iron pipe has to be furnished in its plain state, unprotected, 
for the reason that the gases take up and entirely destroy their 
tar or so-called "asphalt" coatings; hence all cast-iron pipe 
makers have to sell their gas pipe unprotected, while we have 
the Kalamein incorporation process for protection, which the 
gases do not and cannot destroy. 

Another point which must in equity be taken into con- 
sideration, is the nature of the soils in which either cast-iron or 
wrought-iron pipes are buried; the reason for this consideration, 
comparatively speaking, in forming an opinion, is apparent ; 
consequently, the life of any class of iron unquestionably de- 
pends upon the nature and conditions of the soil and, beyond 
this, the protection afforded against the influences of corrosion. 

Taking, therefore, fair comparisons, the fact must not be lost 
sight of, that properly protected wrought-iron pipe has not been 
in use long enough to reach the age of some cast-iron, but the 
class of goods with which we have to deal now — i. e., wrought- 
iron Converse Patent Lock Joint — shows records far ahead, 
under the same conditions, of anything ever accomplished by 
cast-iron. 

We cannot point to a single case where plain unprotected 
cast-iron pipe, for water, has been laid, but there are thousands of 
miles of plain unprotected wrought iron pipes in the oil country 
and extending to the great cities and also on the Pacific Coast, 
which have been in active use under high pressure for years, 
and that when lines are changed and wells abandoned the 
wrought-iron goods are "pulled" and re-sold by second-hand 
dealers for piping purposes. 

We can also point to cities and towns which have had 
plain unprotected wrought-iron in use for upwards of thirty 
years and still in perfectly serviceable condition ; we can also 
show cases where both cast and wrought-iron, protected, have 
not stood so long by reason of existing circumstances herein- 
before referred to. 

We are often asked the question : " How long has any of 
your pipe been in use ? " The object of such question is to form 
an idea of the durability of wrought-iron pipe when buried in 
the ground. 

As we did not commence the manufacture of wrought-iron 
pipe until 1867, we cannot point to any wrought-iron pipe of 
our own particular make, of a greater age than 28 or 29 years. 

In considering this question, therefore, it is well to take up 



678 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the records of the two classes of pipe, viz. : Wrought and Cast, 
without regard to the individual manufacturers or foundrymen. 

The life of iron pipe unquestionably depends upon the 
nature of the soil in which it is buried and its protection from 
the influences of corrosion. 

Again, the life of any iron pipe is, or should be, limited to 
its period of serviceability. If pipe becomes " foul " and " tuber- 
culated " in the course of ten years, such length of time is its 
serviceability. If such pipe is left in the ground in an impure 
and unsafe condition for years afterwards, getting fouler and 
more intensely fragrant, should the time after it ceases to be 
healthful and serviceable be credited to its durability ? We 
think not. 

In any comparisons between the life or durability of the two 
classes of pipe, wrought and cast-iron, we think that this point 
of serviceability should not be lost sight of. 

If the mere fact of the existence of the semblance of the 
original is to be credited to the lasting qualities of either kind 
of pipe, then to whichever class of pipe was first made belongs 
the palm of victory, so far as age goes. 

Wrought-iron, water and gas mains have not been more ex- 
tensively used in this country, because of the excess of first cost 
over that of the baser and cheaper form of the metal. 

Until lately, that is within the past n or 12 years, wrought- 
iron pipe making has been somewhat of a specialty. The capital 
required to erect works and the skill and further capital required 
to operate them, have confined the business of wrought-iron 
pipe making to a few concerns, comparatively. 

Unlike the English manufacturers, the Americans have 
made but one class of pipe, which they have called and still 
call, the " Standard." It is called steam, gas and water pipe, 
and is fitted with a screw and socket joint. 

The fluctuations in price of this class of pipe have been 
much greater than any fluctuations which have taken place in 
the price of cast-iron pipe. The reasons are too obvious to need 
rehearsal. 

In prosperous times, the difference in the price between the 
corresponding sizes of cast-iron and lap-welded standard mer- 
chant wrought-iron pipe is often as great as eighty per cent.; in 
depressed times the difference is not so wide, but is still consid- 
erable — enough to make the first cost of wrought-iron pipe sys- 
tem of gas or water works very much greater than where cast- 
iron pipe is used. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 679 



The wrought-iron pipe manufacturers accepted the situation 
and we are not aware of any attempts upon their part to com- 
pete with cast-iron pipe until the National Tube Works Com- 
pany devoted much attention to the subject. 

Besides the difference of the first cost of the pipe, the fit- 
tings commonly used with wrought-iron pipe were very much 
more expensive than the cast-iron fittings, and were not espe- 
cially adapted for water and gas systems. 

It was for the National Tube Works Company to first make 
a specialty of the class of pipe specially adapted for this style of 
work, by first inventing a joint, which was more flexible than the 
screw and socket joint and consequently the better adapted for 
the rapid and often (alas!) unskillful laying in uneven, crooked 
ditches ; designing and making special patterns, l's, t's, y's, 
crotches, crosses, reducers, plugs, caps and other fittings, as well 
as all the necessary tools and appurtenances for a skillfully 
planned and complete system. 

Then followed an effective treatment of the body of the pipe 
to prevent corrosion, and for the first time in the history of 
water and gas works in this country wrought-iron pipe entered 
the field, fully equipped in first cost and adaptability. These 
are the reasons why wrought-iron pipe has not heretofore been 
more extensively used for water and gas works mains. 

As near as we can ascertain from inquiry and research, cast- 
iron water pipes were first used in this country, as an experiment, 
in the year 1804, previous to which time wooden logs had been 
in use. It is needless to say there were no manfacturers of 
wrought-iron pipe in the United States at that time, and no man- 
ufacturers of any of the larger sizes of wrought-iron pipe, for 
years afterwards. 

The introduction of iron pipes, which necessarily were of 
cast-iron, in 1804, does not appear to have been attended with 
good results, since they did not come into general use until 1819. 
We find records of cast-iron water pipes having been made ex- 
perimentally in 181 7, so it would seem that for a period of from 
ten to fifteen years they were considered an experiment, but as 
time wore on, they gradually replaced wooden logs. 

How much of the cast-iron pipe laid at that time is now in 
use and serviceable? As we look at this matter, the item of ser- 
viceability is inseparable with that of durability. Take some of 
the larger cities, for instance, to which the cast-iron men particu- 
larly refer, and consider the condition of the old cast-iron pipe. 

This old cast-iron pipe can be found in all the large cities of 



630 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the country. Philadelphia, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Allegheny 
City, Pa., present striking evidences of the wretched condition 
of old cast-iron pipe mains, and we herein set forth some of the 
facts pertaining thereto. 

In the case of Philadelphia the records show that over 150 
miles of the old cast-iron pipe are tuberculated and must be 
taken up. The Almshouse holocaust there, brought about by 
the choked-up condition of the cast-iron pipe, caused the 
public to demand a knowledge of the condition of the fire service. 

Now, to be sure, some of this cast-iron pipe is very old — 
but, is it serviceable ? No ! It is worse than no pipe at all, be- 
cause if there was no pipe where this worn out and tuberculated 
pipe now is the city would at once lay pipe which is serviceable 
and the public property would be protected. The same state 
of affairs has existed in the city of Allegheny, Pa. The news- 
papers there have been continually clamoring, the citizens com- 
plaining and the Superintendent of the Fire Department doing 
all he can to clean the pipe and warning the public that the 
tuberculation and incrustation in the cast-iron mains prevent 
him getting the proper fire service. It is the same thing there ; 
although the cast-iron pipe shows age, it does not show age and 
serviceability. 

The following extract is taken from the Pittsburgh Dispatch, 
issue of March 13th, 1S85 : 

Superintendent Browne, of the water works department, has just com- 
pleted his estimates for the replacing of the old and worn-out cast-iron water 
pipes under the principal streets of the old section of the city. This will be 
submitted to the Pipe Committee at their next meeting. The amount to be 
expended in the old city line, in this way, will foot up in the neighborhood 
of $50,000. 

' 'These replacements will not be made any too soon, ' ' was the remark of 
Superintendent Browne. New pipes will be laid during the coming summer ; 
they will enable the department to give better water pressure in the lower 
end of the city, without causing the bursting of pipe, a most desirable end 
to the business men, especially those who want water in the upper stories 
of buildings. 

Now, this pipe which was taken up was in its present bad 
condition for many years ; the water pressure has been growing 
less and less, by reason of tuberculation, and the consequent 
retarding of the flow. 

It would seem as if the life of cast-iron pipe, so far as ser- 
viceability is concerned, is pretty clearly marked out, and it is 
by no means so great as the cast-iron men claim. On the other 
hand, the life of unprotected wrought-iron pipe is by no means 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 681 



so limited as is claimed by the cast iron men. Serviceability is 
what we want to see, combined with age. 

There are in the oil country thousands of tons of wrought- 
iron tubing and casing, which have been buried in the ground 
for upwards of twenty years. There is a regular trade carried on 
by the men who " pull " this secondhand wrought-iron material, 
re-cut the threads and re-sell it for future use. The oil country 
is interlaced with wrought-iron pipe, of which there is a perfect 
net-work. Consider the system of 7,000 miles owned by the 
United Pipe Lines, most of which has been in active and severe 
service for years, and which is still sound and serviceable. As 
we will hereafter show, this mileage was given to the public 
by Mr. W. T. Schneider, Superintendent of the United Pipe 
Lines on February 25th, 1885. Since that time the extensive 
wrought-iron lines which have been added will amount to 
several thousand more miles. 

Take the City of Montreal, for instance, the gas works of 
that city have plain, unprotected wrought-iron pipe, which has 
been in the ground forty years, and which is still in good condi- 
tion. At Cumberland, Md., there is plain wrought-iron pipe 
which has been in the ground thirty years, and which is still in 
good condition. At Fall River, Mass., we have a record of 
thirty-eight years, and so on, bearing in mind that ten years 
have elapsed since these reports were made. At Muncie, Ind., 
the entire gas works system is laid with wrought-iron pipe, 
furnished by the National Tube Works Company. The mains 
are the regular standard screw joint mains ; the service pipe 
is the ordinary black pipe. All of this pipe is unprotected — just 
the plain iron — and it has been in constant service for sixteen 
years. We were informed, a short time ago, that the condition 
of all the pipe, both mains and services, was as good as new. 
How long will this pipe last? The presumption is that it will 
be good when all the readers of this little book of statistics will 
have but little interest in its condition. 

In order to bring to your notice a few more indisputable 
records, by giving exact localities and dates, we herewith sub- 
mit the names of a few cities in which wrought-iron pipe has 
been in use for different periods. We have selected different 
ages in order to the better compare the serviceability of the 
pipe. The list we submit is by no means a complete one, but it 
is authentic, and we have the proper vouchers to substantiate 
its correctness. The information was received by us in the fall 
of 1885, so that the intervening time should be added to the 
various periods stated. 



682 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Location. 



Annapolis 

Albion 

Amsterdam . . . 

Augusta 

Athens 

Attica 

Aurora 

Anderson 

Adrian. 

Appleton ....'. 

Albany 

Aurora 

Ashtabula 

Butler 

Bucyrus 

Belfast 

Ballston 

Barrie ........ 

Bridgeport. . . . 

Brooklyn 

Brooklyn 

Batavia 

Bridgeton 

Boston 

Bellaire 

Beaver Falls. . 

Bath 

Binghampton . 

Bristol 

Bellefontaine. . 

Buffalo 

Bay City 

Birmingham . . 
Burlington. . . . 
Brownsville. . . 
Bordentown. . . 
Cumberland . . 

Cortland 

Charlotte 

Chatham 

Cairo 

Clinton 

Calais 

Council Bluffs. 
Canandaigua". . 
Cedar Rapids. 
Cambridge. . . . 
Cooperstown . . 
Crawfordsville 
Covington 

Cadiz 

Chattanooga . . 
Charlottsville . 

Carthage 

Corning 

Canton 

Concord 



Md.... 
N. Y... 
N. Y... 

Me 

Ga 

N. Y... 
Ind. . . . 
Ind. . . . 
Mich . . 
Wis . . . 
N. Y.. ' 
Ind. . . . 



Class of 
Wrought Iron. 



Galvanized . 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 



O Plain. 



Age of 
Oldest. 



Pa ... 
O 

Me 

N. Y... 
Can . . . 
Conn. . 
N. Y... 
N. Y... 
N. Y.. 
N.J... 
Mass... 

O 

Pa ... . 
Me. ... 
N. Y... 
R. I... 



Plain. . 
Plain . 
Plain.. 
Plain . . 
Tarred. 
Plain . . 
Plain.. 
Plain . . 
Plain . . 
Plain. . 
Plain . . 
Plain . . 
Plain. . 
Plain . . 
Plain . . 
Plain . . 



O Plain 

N. Y... 
Mich... 
Conn. . 
Iowa . . 

Pa 

N.J... 
Md.... 
N. Y... 
N. C... 
Can . . . 

Ill 

Iowa . I 
Me.... 
Iowa . . 
N. Y... 
Iowa . . 



Mass... 

Ga 

Ind. . . . 
Ky.... 

O 

Tenn. . 
Va . . . . 
Mo.... 
N. Y... 

O 

N. H.. 



Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Galvanized. 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 



27 years 

30 " 

25 " 

30 " 

30 " 

5 " 

27 " 

10 " 

28 " 
8 " 

25 " 

17 " 

11 " 
10 " 

24 " 
27 " 
20 " 

7 " 

30 " 

6 " 

25 " 

29 y 2 " 

27 " 

20 " 

14 " 

12 " 

32 " 
31 " 
30 " 
11 " 
36 " 
16 " 

13 " 
25 " 
25 " 

33 " 
30 " 

23 " 
27 " 
13 " 
20 " 

15 " 

24 " 

32 " 

12 " 

15 " 

24 " 

10 " 

30 " 

13 " 
13 " 
30 " 

26 " 

29 " 
32 " 



Present 
Condition. 



Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good as new. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good as new. 

Fairly good. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Pretty good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Verv good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



683 



Location. 


Class of 
Wrought Iron. 


Age of 
Oldest. 


Present 
Condition. 




N. H... 

Mass 

N. Y.... 
Del 
Me 
Ind 
Wis .... 

Ill 

Ill 

Ind 

Mich. . . 
Mass . . . 
Dak .... 
Mass . . . 
N. Y... 
Ind 



Iowa . . . 

Ill 

Ill 

Col 

N. J.... 
Mich . . . 
Tenu . . . 
Me.. .. 

Ind 

Pa 

N. Y. .. 

Ky 

DC... 
Mass . . . 
N. Y... 
Pa 
Me 
Pa 



Md 

Pa 

Wis .... 
N. Y . . . 
N.J.... 

Pa 

O 

Pa 

Mass . . . 

O 

Ind 
Ind 

Ky 

Ky 

Ill 

Pa 

Mass . . . 
Vt 

Pa 

Ill 
Mass. . . 


Plain 


30 years 

24 " 
18 " 

25 " 
28 " 

30 " 

8 " 
10 " 

15 " 

14 " 

15 " 
33 " 

i/ 2 " 

31 " 

27 " 
30 " 
20 " 

5 " 
30 " 
20 " 

3 " 
10 

28 " 

4 " 

24 " 

9 " 

27 " 

35 " 
10 " 
30 " 

25 " 
25 " 
15 " 
10 " 

30 " 

9M" 

28 " 

13 " 

10 " 
27 " 
17 " 
35 " 

3 " 
3 " 

11 " 

6 " 
22 " 

32 " 
3i " 

6 " 

12 " 
25 " 

31 " 

29 " 
17 " 
11 " 

30 " 


Good. 




Plain 


Very good. 

Fair. 

Good. 


Dover 


Painted 

Plain 

Plain 




Good. 


Evansville 


Plain 


Good. 


Eau Claire 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Good. 


East St. Louis 

Elgin 


Good. 
Very good. 
Very good. 
Goo'd. 


Elkhart 


Plain 


Flint 


Plain 


Fall River 


Plain 

Plain 


Good. 


Fargo 


Good as new. 


Fitchburg 


Plain 


Good. 


Fredonia 


Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Fair. 


Fremont 


Painted 

Plain 


Good. 




Good. 


Galena 


Plain . , 

Plain 

Galvanized.. . . 
Plain 


Ouite good. 
Good. 


Galesburg 


Gloucester 


Good. 
Fair. 


Grand Rapids 


Painted. 

Plain 


Fair. 

Good as new. 


Gardner 


Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Good. 


Greensburg 


Plain 


Good. 


Glen Falls . . 


Plain 


Good. 


Georgetown 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Good. 


Georgetown 


Fair. 


Greenfield 


Good. 


Hempstead Plains .... 


Plain 


Good. 


Plain 


Fair. 


Hallowell 

Hamsburgf 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Fair. 
Good. 


Hillsboro 


Good. 
Good. 
Good. 


Jamesville 

Johustown 


Galvanized . . . 
Plain 


Good as new. 
Good. 


Lancaster 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Fair. 
Good. 


Logan 


Good as new. 


Latrobe 

Leominster 


Good as new. 
Good. 


Lebanon 


Good. 


Logausport 


Good. 


La Fayette 


Good. 


Lexington 


Good. 


Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Good. 


Meadville . . 


Plain 


Good. 


Middleboro 


Plain 


Good. 


Montpelier 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Very good. 


Moline 


Good. 
Good. 


Marblehead 


Good. 







684 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Location. 



Montreal 

Manchester. . . 
Mt. Pleasant. . 
Monmouth. . . . 

Marshall 

Mauch Chunk 
Mt. Sterling . . 
Meriden. 

Milford 

Muncie 

Medina 

Mansfield 

Milford 

Minneapolis . . 

Morris 

Newburg 

Natches 

Newton 

New Bedford. 
Niagara Falls. 

Newark 

Niles 

Newark 

New Britain . . 

Nashua 

Norristown . . . 
Nebraska City. 
New Albany . . 

Natick 

North Adams. 

Oswego 

Oskaloosa. 

Pittstou 

Poughkeepsie. 
Portsmouth . . . 

Plainfield 

Plattsburg 
Plymouth. . . . 
Plymouth. . . . 

Paterson 

Portland 

Paris 

Portsmouth . . . 
Pawtucket 
Pittsburgh 
Phillipsburg . . 

Portland 

Paris 

Penn Yann. . . 

Quebec 

Racine 

Richmond 

Rome 

Rock Island . . 

Rushville 

Roxbury 

Rochester 



Can. . 
N. H. 
Iowa . 
111. . . . 
Mich. 
Pa ... 
Ky... 
Conn. 
Del. . . 
Ind... 
N. Y. 
O .... 
Mass. 
Minu. 
111. . . . 
N. Y. 
Miss.. 
Mass . 
Mass . 
N. Y. 
N.J.. 
Mich. 
O .... 
Conn. 
N. H. 
Pa. . . . 
Neb.. 
Ind. . . 
Mass . 
Mass . 
N. Y. 
Iowa . 
Pa. . . 
N. Y. 
Va. .. 
N.J.. 
N. Y. 
Mass . 
Pa . 
N.J 
Me. 
111.. 
O .. 
R. I 
Pa.. 
N.J 
Oreg 
Ky 
N. Y 
Can 
Wis 
Ky. 
Ga. 
111.. 
Ind. 
Mass . 
N.J.. 



.in 



Class of 
Wrought Iron. 



Age of 
Oldest. 



Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain and Gal 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain . . : 

Plain and Gal 

Plain 

Plain 

Tarred 

Tarred 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Painted 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Painted 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain and Gal 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Painted 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 



40 years 

33 " 

13 " 

7 " 
12 

29 " 

13 " 

20 " 

9 " 

6 " 

13 " 

28 " 

30 " 
15 " 

9 " 

6 " 

26 •' 
22 

33 " 

25 " 

20 " 

20 " 
22 

27 " 
3i " 
33 " 

14 " 

33 " 

10 " 
20 

29 " 
12 " 
Unkn'n 

9^ y'rs 

10 " 
20 

15 " 

30 " 

11 " 
30 " 
35 " 
11 

20 " 

30 " 

10 " 

25 " 

25 " 

18 " 

24 " 

30 " 

15 " 

12 " 

32 " 

30 " 

7 " 
30 " 

4 " 



Present 
Condition. 



Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

All good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good as new. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Very fair. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Very good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Pretty good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Fair. 

Very good. 

Fair. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



685 



Location. 


Class of 
Wrought Iron. 


Age of 
Oldest. 


Present 
Condition. 


Rockville 

Sag Harbor 

Stillwater.. . 


O 

N. Y . . . 

Conn . . . 
N. Y . . . 
Minn . . . 

Vt 

Iowa . . . 

Ind .... 

Mass . . . 

Minn . . . 

Mo 

O 

Mo 

Mo 

Pa 

Mo 

111. ... 

Ontario. 

Cal 

Ind 

Ind ... . 

Nev .... 

Pa 

Man 

Ontario. 

Can 

Pa 

Wis 

Mass . . . 
Mass . . 
Minn . . . 

O 

Ind 

N. Y... 

O 

Tex 

O 

O 

O 


Plain 


25 years 

32 " 
20 " 

25 " 
10 " 

25 " 
10 

10 " 

33 " 
23 " 

9 

11 " 
12 

10 

11 " 
18 " 

8 " 

3° " 
12 

7 " 
5 " 

23 " 

12 '" 
2 

9 " 
7 " 

29 " 

30 " 
29 " 
36 " 
14 " 

10 " 

7 " 

11 " 

24 " 
10 " 
11 

18 " 
36 " 


Pretty good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 

Good. 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


St Albans 


Plain 


Fair. 


Sioux City 

Shelby ville 

South Boston 

St. Paul 


Plain 


Good. 


Plain 

Painted 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Good. 

Fair. 

Good. 


Springfield 

Sidney 


Good. 
Good. 
Good. 


St. Joseph 

Sewickley 


Plain 


Good. 


Plain 


Good. 


Plain 


Fair. 


Sterling 


Plain 

Plain 


Very good. 
Very good. 


Santa Rosa 

Vincennes 

Valparaiso 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Very good. 
Good. 
Very good. 
Good. 




Plain 


Very good. 


Winnipeg 


Plain . . 


Good. 


Plain 


Good. 


Windsor 


Plain 

Plain 

Plain 


Good as new. 


Wilkesbarre 


Good. 
Fair. 




Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Fair. 


Winona 

Washington 


Plain 

Plain 


Good. 
Good. 


Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Good. 




Plain 


Good. 


Waco 


Plain 

Plain 


Good. 


Wellsville . . 


Good. 




Plain 


Good as new. 




Plain 


Good. 









Trautwine gives the tensile or cohesive strength of: 

Wrought Iron Ordinary Average 44,800 pounds. 

Wrought Iron Good Average 5°»4oo 

Wrought Iron Superior 60,000 

We took from three pieces of our Converse Lock Joint pipe 

three coupons which we had tested at the Pittsburgh Testing 

Laboratory, on February 13th, 1885, and they showed the 

following tensile strength to the square inch : 

First Piece 56,920 pounds. 

Second Piece 55,9 8 ° 

Third Piece 57,44° 

By this it will be seen that the iron composing our pipe 
is between the good average and the superior. 



686 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



We cut a coupon from a piece of cast-iron pipe for the pur- 
pose of obtaining its tensile strength and comparing it with 
what we knew to be first-class cast-iron. In order to make 
this comparison we cast a section at our foundry from the 
regular run of metal used in our castings ; just such metal as 
goes into all the special castings we furnish for water and gas 
works. 

We had these coupons tested at the Pittsburgh testing 
laboratory on February 13th, 1885, and with the following 
result, as per their certificate : 

Cast-iron pipe 15,760 pounds. 

Our cast-iron fittings from good metal 29,110 " 

From this you will observe that the tensile strength of our 
castings is nearly double that of the iron composing cast-iron 
pipe. 

This question of tensile strength is an important matter. 
When taken in consideration with the elasticity of metal, it 
shows the comparative powers to withstand any sudden shock 
or " water hammer." 

Mr. N. Henry Crafts, Consulting Engineer, commented on 
this important question to the Committee of Water Supply of 
the town of Watertown, Mass., as follows : 

Having satisfactorily shown the measure of this objection (inadapt- 
ability to withstand shocks and high strains), as applied to cast-iron pipes, 
and finding the results not compatible with true economy, it may be well 
to inquire whether, if wrought iron were to be used and a certain and infal- 
lible protection of the metal from corrosion were possible without too great 
cost, the same results would ensue. 

The use of cast-iron for water pipes, so far as adaptability of material 
to the strains and shocks which such pipes are subjected to, is not warrant- 
able where it is possible to make use of wrought iron, properly protected 
from corrosion, at the same cost, or even at a moderately increased cost, 
for it is well known that, as regards tensile strength, capacity of resistance 
to sudden and unusual strains, shocks and blows, either from extraordinary 
pressures, water rams and pulsations, or from carelessness in handling, 
wrought iron is much superior to cast-iron, as the quality of toughness and 
elasticity is superior to brittleness, under the same circumstances. 

In the case of cast-iron pipes, allowances are made for the ram or wave, 
for unavoidable irregularities in the thickness of the castings and for safety 
in handling. The large allowance made for the first is in part owing to the 
nature of the strain, which corresponds to a blow or shock from a solid 
body, but is mainly called for from the brittleness, comparatively speaking, 
of the material in use. 

If 2 was found to be a proper co-efficient of pressure to guard against 
the effects of the ram in cast-iron, we need make no allowance in wrought- 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 687 



iron beyond that provided in the factor of safety. For other contingencies, 
irregularities of thickness and safety in handling, it is evident no allowance 
is needed in wrought-iron. 

I have long regarded the use of cast-iron for water and gas pipes as but 
an extravagant and most wasteful application of the most valuable metal in 
the world. 

I have given }'OU all the facts in my possession, and have presented my 
discussion on the several topics which have any bearing upon the question 
under consideration, in full, that you may the better judge of the correct- 
ness of my conclusions on each particular topic and upon this, the final de- 
cision, on the two main questions : 

First. — What kind of pipe shall be used ? 

Second. — What effect will increased pressure, under the Holly system, 
have upon the cost of piping ? 

To the first question my decision has already been given, and the 
answer is, use the lap-welded pipe by all means, both for street mains and 
for service pipes. 

To the second question, the answer depends upon the reply made to the 
first, and, accepting my reply to the first as correct and judicious, the 
answer will be, " The increase of pressure incident to the Holly system will 
have no effect upon the cost of pipe either for street mains, service or house 
pipes." 

Under the subject of " Hydrostatics," Trautwine has the 
following to say regarding the thickness of pipe to withstand 
sudden pressures : 

Cast-iron city water pipes require a greater thickness than that given 
by the rule to enable those of small bore to endure the necessary handling, 
and to provide against irregular castings, and the air bubbles or voids, to 
which all castings are more or less liable. 

In the writer's opinion, experience has shown that if we employ one- 
eighth of the ultimate cohesion of the iron, in using the rule, and then 
add three-tenths inch to every resulting thickness, we shall obtain satisfactory 
practical thickness. 

Double-riveted pipes, Fairbairn says, are about 1.25 times as strong as 
single-riveted. Hence they may be one-fifth part thinner. Lap-welded ones 
are nearly 1.8 times as strong as single-riveted. 

Many continuous miles of double-riveted wrought-iron pipes in Califor- 
nia have been in use for years, with safeties of but 2 to 2.6. In one case the 
head is 1,720 feet, or a pressure of 746 pounds per square inch. 

In July, 1883, one of the largest cast-iron mains of the water 
works of McKeesport burst, causing a great deal of damage. 
We took one of the fragments of the broken pipe, which had 
been completly demolished, and sent it to our laboratory for 
analysis, and to ascertain the class of iron which the manufac- 
turers of cast-iron piping were using. 

The following is the report of our chemist : 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



With regard to the pieces of cast-iron pipe given rne for analysis, I find 
the iron high in phosphorus : 0.95. This amount would cause great weak- 
ness of strength of metal, particularly if the casting was in the least im- 
perfect from the sand. The fracture was fair, though in some places I could 
see that the metal had not been properly mixed and the grain showed a 
bluish tinge. I am still making further tests for silicon ; the sulphur is 
about the usual amount and rather low for foundry iron. 

On further examination of the broken cast-iron pipe, I form the same 
conclusion as my previous report, and that is that phosphorus is the sole 
mischief of bad metal in this cast-iron pipe. The usual amount of phos- 
phorus in good quality of foundry iron averages 0.3 per cent, while that 
found in the cast-iron pipe was 0.95. For comparison I submit the fol- 



lowing : 



Hot Blast— Good Quality 
Bboken Pipe. of No. 3. 

Phosphorus 095 Phosphorus 0.3 

Sulphur 0.04 Sulphur 0.03 

Silicon 2.25 Silicon 2.25 

Graphite 3.10 Graphite 300" 



UNITED PIPE LINES. 



In connection with wrought-iron pipe it is interesting to 
note that the various pipe line companies in this country, which 
have been absorbed and are now operated under the name of 
the " United Pipe Lines," had in February, 1885, 7,000 miles of 
wrought-iron pipe in active use. A number of these lines are 
laid right on top of the ground, exposed to the weather and are 
working and have been worked for years, to convey oil at pres- 
sures ranging from 750 to 1,500 pounds. 

The following article is clipped from the Pittsburg Leader, 
February 25, 1885 : 

Seven Thousand Miees of Pipe Line. 

W. T. Schneider, Superintendent of the United Pipe Lines, states that 
there are now in use by the National Transit and United Pipe Lines over 
7,000 miles of pipe. One line runs from the oil country to Cleveland, an- 
other to New York, another to Philadelphia and to Baltimore, and one to 
Buffalo. Again, there is the Bradford line direct, and the Warner and 
Forest County lines. Another line traverses the lower country, or that 
region below Oil City. Another line runs from Macksburg, O. , each di- 
vision having its own superintendent. There are at present seventeen super- 
intendents and four foremen. The present one is the first one that has been 
laid in this city. Yesterday afternoon they visited the National Tube Works 
in a body, for the purpose of witnessing the process for the manufacture of 
the pipe used so extensively by the companies they represent. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 689 

MESSRS. DUNCAN BROTHERS, Engineers. 
MILD STEEL PIPE. 
(Homogeneous Iron.) 
Through the courtesy of Messrs. Duncan Brothers, the re- 
nowned engineers of London, England, we have been favored 
with the following data, for our confidential use, covering mild 
steel pipe which has been so successfully introduced through- 
out England and Scotland in competition with and replacing 
cast-iron pipe. 

In late years steel lias been applied for the making of boilers, for build- 
ing ships, constructing bridges, and for other purposes where iron was 
previously employed. One of the most recent adaptations of this metal has 
been for the making of water, gas, and sewage mains, and one of the more 
conspicuous examples of this adaptation in this country is the new water 
mains now being carried across the Tay Bridge to supply the suburb of New- 
port with water from the Dundee reservoirs. The mild steel utilized for 
such work is refined wrought-iron, being almost pure metallic iron. It is 
four times as strong as cast-iron, and this consideration enables the pipes to 
be made both much lighter and much stronger than when they are of cast- 
iron. The pipes now being fitted upon the Tay Bridge are only quarter of 
an inch thick, yet they are equal to a working pressure of 4S7 pounds per 
square inch. Had they been of cast-iron they would have been three- 
quarters of an inch thick, and with that extra weight they would only have 
been equal to a working pressure of 290 pounds. The total weight of the 
steel pipe in the bridge will be but 120 tons, whereas a three-quarter-inch 
thick cast-iron pipe of similar diameter would have weighed 350 tons. 
These figures show how economical is steel as contrasted with cast-iron in 
the matter of weight and of strength. 

The pipes are nine inches in diameter, and are made in lengths of 18 
feet. The steel is manufactured at Newton by the Steel Company of Scot- 
land, Limited ; made into plain lap welded tubes by Messrs. A. & J Stewart, 
Limited, Coatbridge ; and delivered at the Steel Company's Works at 
Blochairn, where the pipes are fitted with sockets and tested ; the whole 
operations being supervised by Mr. D. J. Russell Duncan, A. M. I. C. E., of 
the firm of Duncan Brothers, engineers, London, by whom steel pipes are 
being introduced. 

As Dundee will shortly have to spend from ^"50,000 to ^100,000 in laying 
a new main through Strathtnore, some particulars of this new development 
of water pipe engineering will not ba uninteresting. The steel plates of 
which the pipes are formed are carefully beveled at the edges. They are 
then, whilst hot, bent by machinery into cylindrical tubes, are welded to- 
gether (the beveled edges allowing the weld to run obliquely through the 
metal) by being passed through rollers under strong pressure. A patent 
socket or collar, also of steel is afterwards shrunk upon one end of each pipe, 
and is fixed in a fashion which renders it part of the cylinder. At intervals 
of about 350 feet an expansion joint is fitted, formed of cast-iron double col- 
lar joint with rubber rings placed on the ends of the steel pipes, the pipes 
in this case being well mouthed — i. e. , slightly flanged — in order to retain 
the rings in position. 



690 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The system now introduced is a new departure in Scotland in the con- 
struction of water maius. Lap welded pipes of small size made of wrought- 
iron are commonly used for service pipes for water, but the development of 
lap-welded pipes made of steel into water mains with socket and spigot 
joints is a great advance upon anything of the kind hitherto attempted in 
this country. 

Wrought-iron pipes are very largely used in the United States, many 
thousands of miles being now employed in carrying water, natural gas, oil, 
&c. Only manufacturers in America can, as yet, turn out lap-welded iron 
pipes up to 24 inches diameter, the plant being employed being larger than 
any available in this country. In all likelihood, however, a demand will 
arise for these pipes, which manufacturers will prepare themselves to meet. 
The pipe now being laid on the Tay Viaduct proves that piping of homo- 
geneous material of much greater strength than cast-iron can be manufac- 
ured within commercial limits, and the use of mild steel will likely become 
general for the construction of water mains, especially where the pressure 
put upon them is high and burst frequent. The test pressure put upon the 
Tay Bridge pipes is 600 pounds per square inch, or more than five times their 
actual working pressure. Several of the pipes have been tested to 1,300 
pounds per square inch, or more than ten times the maximum pressure 
which can ever be put upon them when working. Considering that the 
thickness of the metal is only one-fourth of an inch, the withstanding of 
this enormous pressure indicates how great is its strength. 

The question has been raised as to the durability of steel as compared 
with cast-iron under the action of water. Dr. Dupre, of London, examined 
several plates of steel, wrought-iron and cast-iron, and his report goes to 
prove that the action of Lintrathen water upon steel is almost the same as 
on cast-iron. Care has been taken in coating the Tay Viaduct pipe with 
a thick covering of a composition specially prepared to resist the action of 
water. This composition is of a resinous nature, and each pipe as it ar- 
rives at the Tay Bridge is dipped into a large tank containing the molten 
material. On emerging from the bath, the pipe is found to be coated, in- 
side and out, with a tough, smooth, glassy covering, which effectually pre- 
serves it from contact with water. 

The specifications prepared by Mr, James Watson, M. Inst. C. E. , 
Water Engineer, Dundee, who is Engineer for the Works, is the first com- 
plete specification yet drawn out for this description of water mains, and 
the Tay Viaduct line is the first of its kind in Britain. Messrs. Duncan 
Bros., engineers, London, are the contractors. 

Mild Steel Mains, for Gas, Water, &c. 

In olden times, before the processes for refining iron were known, it 
was customary to make all large engineering structures of common cast- 
iron ; steam boilers, bridges, roofing frames, columns, girders and pipes 
of large diameter, as well as many other articles, all being made of this 
material. 

When malleable iron rolled into plates and bars became a commercial 
commodity, it was applied to the construction of steam boilers, bridges, 
girders and other structures ; and scientific investigation proved that in ad- 
dition to being more ductile, it had greater tensile strength than cast-iron, 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 691 



the relative tensile strengths of cast-iron and wrought-iron being, approxi ■ 
mately, i and 2.7. Mild steel is refined wrought-iron, being nearly pure 
metallic iron, and when rolled into plates its strength compared to cast- 
iron is as 4 to 1. 

In consequence of its strength and ductility it is eminently adapted for 
all purposes to which cast-iron has been formerly applied, and in many in- 
stances, as in naval architecture, it takes the place of timber. 

Having now been used for several years for building ships and construct- 
ing steam boilers, girders, columns, and many kinds of engineering works> 
in which timber and cast-iron have been discarded, it seems reasonable to 
suppose that in time it will take its place as the proper material from which 
to construct pipes and mains for water, sewage and gas. 

With regard to strength, the ultimate tensile strength usually mentioned 
in specifications for cast-iron pipes is 18,000 pounds per square inch ; mild 
steel, however, is now made with an ultimate tensile strength of 72,000 
pounds per square inch. It follows, therefore, that if pipes are made of 
steel plates of the same thickness as would be employed iu cast-iron, they 
are approximately four times as strong. The actual strength is not exactly 
four times, because it is not customary to calculate resistance to internal 
pressures with the same co-efficient or factor of safety for both materials. 

The factor of safety usually employed for cast-iron is 10, that is to say, 
the working strength of the material is taken as only one-tenth of the actual 
strength, which, in the case of pipes, means that if the internal working 
pressure is to be 100 pounds per square inch, the strength of the pipes is 
calculated to resist 1,000 pounds per square inch. For wrought-iron the 
factor is 6, and for mild steel 5. The reason for the differences in the factor 
of safety is because iron and mild steel are more homogeneous and thus 
more reliable than cast-iron. 

The impurities which are present in cast-iron are of less specific gravity 
than metallic iron, and consequently the specific gravity of the mixture 
called cast-iron is less than that of pure metallic iron. Mild steel is the 
nearest approach to pure metallic iron, which commerce and science com- 
bined have yet produced on an extensive working scale. The average 
weights per cubic foot of the metals are : 

Cast Iron. Wrought Iron. Mild Steel. 

450 lbs. 4S0 lbs. 489.6 lbs. 

The average weight of water is 62.5 pounds per cubic foot ; therefore the specific 
gravities average : 

Water. Cast Iron Wrought Iron. Mild Steel 

1 7.20 7.6S 7.83 

Table No. i. — Relative Thickness for Equal Strength. 

Cast Iron. Wrought Iron. Mild Steel. 
Weight of plate in lbs. per sq. ft. 

1 in. thick 37.5 40 40.8 

Tenacity per sq. in iS.ooo 48,600 72,000 

Relative strength for equal thickness ... 1 2.7 4 

Factor of safety 10 6 5 

Relative strength due to factor of safety. 1 4.5 
Reduction in strength due to riveted 

joints 2,0% 3°?° 

Relative strength after reduction for 

riveted joints 1 3.15 5-6 

Relative thickness for plates of equal 

strength 1 0.3174 0.1786 



693 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Table No. 2. — Relative; Weight for Equal Strength. 

Thickness of plates in inches, 40 lbs. 

weight per square ft 1.066 1.00 0.9S04 

Relative strength for equal weight 1 2.533 3- 6 7 8 

" " due to factor of safety. 1 4.22 7-356 

" " after reduction for 

riveted joints 1 2.955 5-H9 

Relative weight of plain cylinders of 

equal strength 1 0.3384 0.1942 

Increase in weight of pipes due to 

joints 5-S# I5# 15^ 

Relative weight of pipes of equal 

strength 1 0.3678 0.211 

The relative thicknesses for plates of equal strength for materials of the 
ultimate tenacity under consideration are given on the last line of table of 
No. 1. In the next table the results obtained show the relative weights of 
pipes of equal strength, having socket and spigot joints made from materials 
of the ultimate tensile strengths specified. 

Applying these results to an ideal case, we find that if it is specified 
that cast-iron pipe to stand 300 ft. working head of pressure, and 24 in. 
internal diameter are to be }i in. = (.875) thick, then wrought-iron pipes of 
the same diameter would be .875X.3174 = .2778 in thick, and mild steel 
pipes would be .875 X.17S6 = .1573 in. thick, or say : 

% in. /a in. and g% in. thick respectively, for equal internal pressures. 

Then again, if one mile of 24 in. cast-iron pipes J4 inch thick made up 
of pipes in 12 ft. lengths weighing 24.8 cwt., each length weighs 545.6 tons, 
the corresponding weight of one mile of wrought-iron pipes will be 545.6 x 
0.3678 = 200.6 tons. 

And one mile of mild steel — 

545.6 XO.2111 = 115. 2 tons. 

These results show that for equal diameters 24 inches, equal working 
pressures of 300 feet, and equal lengths of one mile, the weights are re- 
spectively : 

Cast-iron. Wrought-iron. Mild Steel. 

545.6 200.6 115. 2 tons. 

It must be remembered, however, that these results are conditional upon 
the materials having the ultimate tensile strengths before stated. 

The great reduction in weight effected by the use of mild steel is pro- 
ductive of considerable economy in the cost of the pipes at the maker's 
works. The price per ton of mild steel pipes averages about /\% times the 
current price of cast-iron pipes ; as the relative weights for equal strengths 
are as 1 :.2in, it is, therefore, apparent that the relative costs for a given 
length are as 1 : 0.90, or, in other words, length for length, at a cost of 10 
per cent, less than cast-iron pipes. 

With regard to carriage, the rate per ton by rail is the same for either 
cast-iron or mild steel pipes, and as the saving is in the direct ratio of dead 
weight, for a given length, the cost of railway carriage is 78 per cent, less 
than on cast-iron pipes, and a like saving can be effected in handling the 
pipes at the site of the track in which they are to be laid. 

The next point to which attention is directed is the jointing. As mild 
steel pipes are so much lighter than cast-iron pipes, it is clear that they may 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 693 

be conveniently handled in longer lengths. The system of construction also 
favors this, and in fact the pipes may be made in one continuous length, 
built up at the site, if it is desired. The customary methods are to make 
them in lengths of 24 ft., this being twice the usual length of cast-iron pipes, 
and consequently having only half the number of joints. Taking the 24-in. 
pipes before mentioned the lengths and weights would be : 

Cast-iron. Mild Steel. 

Diameter 24 in. 24 in. 

length each pipe 12 ft. 24 ft. 

Weight " 24.8cwt. 10.47 cwt. 

Relative weights per pipe 1 0.42 

" lengths " 1 2 

Again, taking the case of one mile in length, 440 pipes would be re- 
quired in cast-iron, and only 220 in mild steel, consequently there is a saving 
of 50 per cent, in the labor and cost of jointing a given length. Then with 
regard to each joint, the mean circumference of the space for lead in an 
ordinary cast-iron socket joint is greater than in mild steel pipe, in conse- 
quence of the greater thickness of cast-iron. The reduction in the circum- 
ference of mild steel socket is equal to a saving of 9% per cent, upon the 
weight of lead required for a 24-in. cast-iron pipe socket ; assuming that the 
depth of lead is the same in each case, the total saving in lead is therefore 
59X per cent. 

To show the final economical result in the case of one mile of 24-inch 
pipes previously mentioned, the several relative costs are : 

Cast-Iron. Mild-Steel. Saving. 

Internal diameter (inches) 24 24 — percent. 

Length (mile) 1.0 

Number of pipes 440 

Weight of each pipe (cwts.) 24.8 

" one mile (tons) 545-6 

Relative cost per ton 

" " of carriage per ton 

" " " on total 

" " of laying per yard 

" number of joints 

" weight of lead each joint 

" " " " mile 

" cost of making each joint 

" " of jointing one mile 

" " total for one mile 

" " of pipes and carriage 

" " " carriage and laying 

Relative cost of pipes, carriage, laying and joint- 
ing one mile 



24 


— 


1.0 


— 


220 


— 


IO47 


— 


115. 2 


— 


4-25 


— 


1.0 


— 


0.2III 


73 


0.7 


30 


o-5 


5° 


0.905 


9/2 


0405 


59^ 


0.8 


20 


0.40 


60 


0.9 


10 



0.84 16 

o 834 16.6 



The saving actually effected in the total outlay for one mile of 24-inch 
pipes is therefore : 
Cost of Pipes. Cost of Carriage. Cost of Laying. Cost of Jointing. 

IO# 6% 0.6^ 4.6$ 21.2%. 

If the difference between the total cost of a line of cast-iron and mild- 
steel mains, viz., 21.2$, as shown above, is invested at 4 per cent, compound 
interest, it will accumulate in 3^ years to the amount of the original out- 
lay for the steel main, and thus provide for its renewal ; for example, if the 
cost of laying a cast-iron main is ,£"10,000, the corresponding cost of a mild 



694 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



steel main would be ^"7,880, showing a saving of ^"2,120. This sum laid out 
at 4 per cent, compound interest would amount to ,^7,887 in 3^ years, and 
would pay for a new line of mild-steel pipes. 

Many cases have to be dealt with in which the practical difficulties of 
using cast-iron are easily overcome by the use of .mild-steel. For example, 
when sewage pipes have to be laid over soft marshy ground for conveying 
sewage out to sea, the difficulties with which engineers have to deal are 
chiefly the instability of the ground and the great weight of cast-iron pipes ; 
there is also considerable trouble in handling and laying the pipes, some- 
times two or more lines of cast-iron pipes have to be laid side by side because 
the heavy weights which one Hue of sufficiently large diameter involve can- 
not be conveniently carried over and laid upon marshy ground. 

Mild steel pipes being so much lighter than cast-iron, and, moreover j 
being in very long lengths, do not impose so much weight upon soft 
ground ; the weight is also better distributed in consequence of the rigidity 
due to the reduction in number of lengths, each length of pipe being a very 
strong built up structure of 20, 30 or 40 feet, as the case may be. There is 
also the advantage that the diameter of mild steel pipes is not limited as in 
cast-iron, and pipes may be made of any diameter. If, for example, it was 
necessary to construct sewage mains of 2S feet area to be laid over soft 
ground, discharging into the sea beyond low-water mark, it would be 
necessary to use three lines of cast-iron pipes, each 3 feet 6 inches diameter, 
or four lines each 3 feet diameter ; whereas, if the main was made of mild 
steel, one line 6 feet diameter would do all the work. 

Assuming that these mains were all constructed for a working pressure 
of 100 feet head, the relative weights would be : 

4 lines Cast-iron, 3 lines Cast-iron, 1 line Mild Steel, 

each 36 in. dia. each 42 in. dia. 72in.dia. 

Relative working strength 1 1 1 

" total sectional area 1 1 1 

" total weight 1 1.021 0.226 

The cheapest system of construction recommended for mild steel pipes 
is to make the main body of the pipe after the manner of a horizontal 
steam boiler ; a number of plates being joined together by circular lap- 
joints single riveted, each plate forming a ring, being in one piece only 
double riveted on the longitudinal lap joint. Each plate is bent in the 
direction of its length, the greatest dimension of the plate being used for 
the circumference of the pipe whenever the circumference exceeds the limit 
of width of plate. 

The plates are preferably used as wide as the steel manufacturers can 
roll them, to reduce the number of circumferential seams. The plates form- 
ing the main body of the pipe are specially selected of a very high quality of 
mild steel, and although most suitable for being drilled or punched and 
riveted, are not so soft as to be capable of welding ; the reason for this selec- 
tion of plates being that welded circumferential and longitudinal seams in 
long pipes of large diameter are more expensive than riveted joints, and be- 
cause plates which can be welded are of much lower tensile strength than 
the plates selected, consequently, for equal strength welded plates would 
have to be about 20 per cent, thicker than those recommended. 

With regard to the ends of the pipes, it is desirable to have truly 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 695 



formed ends, either rolled from a solid piece of steel, from a ring or cylinder 
plate, or stamped from flat plates. The latter system is the best, because 
plates of a welding quality and known strength can be used, and simply 
pressed to form sockets and spigots, whereas, if rolled from a solid piece of 
steel the large diameter, in proportion to the thickness of metal, allows the 
piece being rolled to cool down, as there is not metal enough to retain the 
heat, and the unequal cooling and contraction produce inferior work. In 
order to maintain the full strength of the pipes at the joint, sockets and 
spigots are made of proportionately thicker plates, the additional weight 
being added just where required, no excess of weight along the bod}' of the 
pipe being thereby wasted, as must be the case when pipes are welded 
throughout their entire length and expanded at the ends to form joints. 

In dealing with external pressure upon cast-iron pipes, the length must 
be taken as the distance between the joints, usually 12 feet in large pipes, 
but in mild steel pipes the calculations are based upon the length between 
supports, or the distance between the circular seams of plates. Experience 
in America has proved that when laid to a depth of about three times the 
internal diameter of the pipe, the earth being well rammed all around and 
over the pipe, the effect of external loads is not appreciable, and no dam- 
age results to the pipe, no matter how heavy the surface load may be ; a 
load carried on a wagon can only impose about one-fourth of the gross 
weight on one point at a time. 

Assuming that the fore or rear wheels go over a street in such a way 
that two wheels would at the same time be bearing on one pipe, the load 
would of course be borne at two points, the pitch of the wheels apart, proba- 
bly five feet. 

The resistance of pipes of uniform thickness to collapse under external 
pressure varies inversely as the length, according to Fairbairu & Unwin's 
experiments, but these experiments have all been made on the flues of 
Lancashire or Cornish steam boilers, and consequently do not apply to a 
length of pipe laid underground ; and the expression of length in the latter 
case means the distance between the centres of the rivets *of the circular 
seams. Accordingly if a pipe should collapse under a given pressure _i", it 
woidd require a pressure of ix to have the same effect if the circular seams 
were only half the distance apart ; also, if the length and thickness are the 
same, the collapsing pressure varies inversely as the diameter. 

Arrangements have been made in this country for laying down some 
steel pipes under a street where there is considerable heavy traffic, and 
observations will be made from time to time to ascertain the behavior of the 
pipes, under the severe conditions to which they will be subjected. 

The subject of resistance to external pressure is one requiring very great 
attention ; very little is yet known as to the effect of heavy street traffic over 
pipes laid underground ; consequently in drawing out specifications for mild 
steel pipes it is most necessary to provide means for stiffening those portions 
of the pipes which may be subjected to external pressure. 

The calculations for resistance to collapse being entirely different from 
those for resistance to internal pressure, it does not follow that a pipe of 
mild steel and one of cast-iron, having equal strength to resist bursting, shall 
have the same equality in resisting collapse. 

The ease with which mild steel pipes can be repaired is a great point in 



696 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



their favor ; they do not fracture like cast-iron, and consequently are not 
liable to sudden bursts. Pipes which are exposed are liable to be injured 
from external violence, such as being cut by heavy pieces of hard rock falling 
upon them ; leakages have occurred in America from this cause, and repairs 
are effected either by riveting on a patch, or when it is not practicable to 
cut off the water, the leakage is stopped by a flat steel baud put around the 
pipe and tightened up with wedges of steel or compressed wood. Such 
bands are usually drawn together with lugs and steel keys, and absolutely 
prevent further leakage. 

Some hydraulic tests were recently made by Mr. James Watson, M. 
Inst. C. E. Corporation Water Works Engineer, Dundee, to ascertain the 
strength of mild steel pipes. A pipe 10 ft. 6 in. long, 12 inches internal 
diameter, made of steel having an ultimate tensile strength of 24 tons, the 
plates being .125 inch thick, and the riveted seams as follows : 

Diameter of rivets 5-16 in. 

Length of rivets 5-8 " 

Pitch for single riveting 1 " 

for double " 1 1-2 " 

Lap for single riveted seam 1 1-16 " 

" double " " 21-8 " 

The pressures calculated for this pipe are as follows : 

Pounds. Feet Head. 

Working pressure 152.4 35° 

Test pressure 266.7 612.5 

Bursting pressure 762 1750 

This pipe was subjected to a compression between the discs of the prov- 
ing machine of 56. S tons, or of a hydraulic pressure of 500 lbs. per square 
inch acting on a ram of 18 inches diameter ; but this gross pressure was 
counteracted by an internal resistance of 300 lbs. per square inch acting 
upon the discs of the machine at the socket end of the pipe, the internal 
diameter of the socket at its extreme end being 12^ inches; the net load 
upon the end of the socket to cause compression was, therefore, 56.8 tons — 
16.4 tons— 40.4. 

The socket was made from a plain cylinder of welded steel 12 inches 
internal diameter, 12^ inches external diameter before rolling, expanded at its 
widest part to 13 inches internal diameter, the reduction in the thickness of 
the plate at the expanded portion was from .125 in. to .1156 in. = 7.5 per 
cent., the net load of tons imposed by the ram of the proving machine, 
therefore, acted upon a welded cylinder .1156 inches thick having a mean 
diameter of 13.1156 inches, and a total sectional area of 4,761 in., the net 
compressive strain therefore being 8.506 tons per square inch. 

Another pipe tested was 8 ft. 7 in. long, made of one steel plate y% in. 
thick, having a double riveted longitudinal lap joint iY% in. wide, riveted 
together by % in rivets at iyi in. pitch ; the pipe having angle iron flanges 
fitted at the ends, each flange being 7.)/ z in. X 2j4 in. X ]i ln - This pipe is 
one of a number which have been constructed for hydraulic ram work in 
Spain, and each pipe had been previously tested to the test pressure men- 
tioned in the works' specification, the pressure for which the pipes were 
designed being as follows : 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 697 



Pounds. Feet Head. 

Working pressure 112. 5 260 

Test pressure 197.0 455 

Bursting pressure 562.9 1300 

This pipe, when in the proving machine, was subjected to a pressure of 
760 lbs. per square inch, or 1,775 f ee t head, and with the exception of a 
slight leak at one of the rivets, and a portion of the calking having slightly 
yielded, and created what is known as a " weeping joint," no sign of total 
destruction was evident at the above pressure. The result of this test 
proved that the formulae used for calculating the strength of steel pipes is 
to be thoroughly relied upon, and that the calculating working test and 
bursting pressures are within exceeding safe limits. 

It is very bad practice in designing any engineering work, such as 
water mains, to have portions of the structure of unequal strength, and by 
the construction recommended, the body and ends of the pipe have uniform 
strength to resist internal pressures. 

There are very many forms of sockets and spigots, and by means of 
specially designed tools for rolling or stamping them, such forms can be 
given as may be desired by the engineer. After the sockets and spigots are 
rolled they are riveted to the body of the pipe with circumferential riveted 
seams, similar to those joining the several plates which make up the pipe. 

In designing water mains very great attention must be given to the 
details of riveting, because unless the riveted joint is made in the strongest 
possible manner there may be very great waste of material. The weight in 
tons of plates bearing a very large ratio to the amount of work put upon 
them, it is clear that the resistance of the riveted joint to bursting should 
be as nearly the strength of the solid plate as possible. This is best ex- 
plained by the following figures : Suppose a riveted joint whose strength is 
only 52^ per cent, of the solid plate, a line of pipes 10 miles long, 30 in. 
diameter, for a working pressure of 300 feet head, would require to be made 
of plates .276 inch thick, and the total weight would be 2,412 tons. 

Again, if the joint was made up to 70 per cent, of the strength of the 
solid plate, the thickness of the plate would be .2073 iuch, and the total 
weight would be 1,788 tons, the plates in both cases being mild steel of 30 
tons ultimate tensile strength, but being built up into pipes by different 
systems of riveting. 

The difference in weight is 624 tons, equal to 34.91 per cent, waste of 
material over what is required for properly designed pipes. From this it 
will be seen that too great attention cannot be given to the system of mak- 
ing the riveted joints. With a view to obtain the greatest possible efficiency at 
the least cost, it is expedient to design the riveted joints on one or other of 
the following principles, the determining conditions being the pressure, the 
diameter, and the thickness of plate which can be most conveniently 
adopted. 

No. 1, for the maximum strength which can be obtained from a double 
riveted joint calculated to 70 per cent, of the strength of the solid plate, 
used for thin pipes at very high pressures. 

No. 2, for medium strength of joint calculated for 57^ per cent, of the 
strength of the solid plate, used for moderately thick pipes in proportion to 
the working pressure. 



698 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



No. 3, for joints which only require to be tight at low pressure, calcu- 
lated to 45 per cent, of the strength of the solid plates employed, for pipes 
made of thick plates which are not subjected to much pressure. 

For convenience in punching, multiple punching machines are em- 
ployed on the longitudinal seams, and on the end seams a single punching 
machine is used, with a specially arranged circumferential dividing appara- 
tus, such that the inner and over laps of plates are punched in nearly radial 
lines. This system of punching is absolutely necessary to ensure good work, 
as the difference between the inner and outer [circumferences of the two 
plates forming the joint causes a radial variation in the axles of the rivets. 

In some cases the circular over-laps are expanded sufficiently to admit 
the inner-lap, and thus make a smooth internal cylindrical surface for the 
pipe. The longitudinal seams are also in some cases arranged in a similar 
manner. Each pipe is built up usually with four rings of plates, one socket, 
and one spigot, into one length of about 24 feet. 

Regarding the jointing of one pipe with another, mild steel pipes offer 
many advantages over cast-iron pipes, and there is no limit to the variety of 
socket and spigot which can be formed in mild steel. 

Ordinary cast-iron turned and bored joints require lead packing when 
subjected to high pressure, and numerous instances have been known where 
the rigidity of a turned and bored joint in cast-iron pipes has caused frac- 
tures during the laying of the pipes, because of the instability of the ground 
in which the pipes were being laid. 

If a pipe 12 feet long fits tightly into its fellow, and is not supported 
rigidly in a true straight line with it, both in vertical and horizontal planes, 
any angular deviation of the pipe, or overhang from the joint, will most 
probably cause the joint to break, and when the water is turned on a leaky 
joint is the result. 

The design of joint recommended for mild steel pipes is one based on 
the principles of the ordinary cup and ball joint, but with a projecting 
parallel or taper socket on one end to receive lead or other packing after 
the pipes are laid during the laying the cup and ball principle permits of 
angular deviation, either vertically or horizontally up to certain limits, with- 
out causing any strain upon the joint, and at the same time preserving close 
contact of the ends of the pipes. 

Pipes made of mild steel may be made to taper from the inlet to the 
outlet without materially adding to the cost, whereas it is not convenient 
nor economical to make cast-iron pipes taper throughout the length of 
main. 

It is well known that the discharge of water is much greater from a 
properly designed taper pipe than from a parallel one. A few years ago there 
was laid in the United States of Columbia a tapered pipe, beginning with a 
diameter of 60 inches, and terminating with two outlets of 11 }4 inches each, 
the length in all being 19,082 feet. 

Starting at the inlet end with a diameter of 60 inches, the pipe is con- 
tinued to a distance of 837 feet, it is then reduced to a diameter of 18 inches, 
at which it goes on to a further distance of 6,628 feet, when it comes down 
to 17 inches diameter, and goes on at that for a further distance of 6,440 
feet, it then comes down to 16 inches diameter, where is situated a dis- 
tributor. Two pipes of n)4 inches diameter deliver the water from the 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 699 



distributor. The pipes from the distributor have a number of bends, and in 
some places have to rise over small elevations, and for this reason have been 
specified n}4 inches in diameter. 

This pipe delivers 96 cubic feet of water per second, under a pressure 
due to a head of 650 feet ; it was designed and calculated from formulas 
proved in actual practice by Mr. W. S. Wei ton, Assoc. M. Inst. C. I3-, and 
was most successfully laid under his supervision. 

With regard to the life of wrought-iron mains, the best experience of 
thin plate pipes is that obtained in America, where they have been used for 
over thirty years. The pipes are in some cases laid without coating of any 
kind, and do not deteriorate rapidly. They are generally, however, thickly 
coated with natural asphaltum, and it has been proved after many years' 
experience that this coating, when properly applied, keeps the pipes per- 
fectly free from the action of water or moist air. 

Too great attention cannot be given to the subject of coating. Having 
tried many different kinds of composition, success has been obtained in 
perfecting the process of coating pipes, both internally and externally (or 
externally only in the case of pipes for gas), with a thick covering of com- 
position, which is not affected by water or air. The composition is applied 
hot, and when cold presents a smooth, dry and hard, but not brittle, 
surface. 

With the object of obtaining scientific evidence as to the applicabil- 
ity of mild steel for the construction of mains for gas, sewage and water, 
several experts have been consulted, whose reports are subjoined. 



REPORT BY 

W. J. RUSSETL, Ph. D., F. R. S. 

Chemical Laboratory, 
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, E. C. 

June 18th, 1SS6. 

To answer the question whether mild steel was likely to be more or 
less acted on by sewage than cast-iron, I have made the following ex- 
periments, and they certainly indicate that the steel is less attacked than 
cast-iron is. 

I received from you four samples of steel, labeled " No. 1, ship quality ;" 
" No. 2, ship quality ;" No. 4, boiler quality;" " No. 5, boiler quality ;" and 
some samples of cast iron. 

Samples Nos. 2 and 5, and one piece of the cast-iron, after well scouring 
with sand and water, were partly immersed in the sewage you sent me, for 
a week. Rusting took place at the line of the surface of the fluid in each of 
these cases, and black sulphide of iron was formed on each sample. The 
rusting of the cast-iron was visibly more rapidly effected than that of either 
sample of steel. 

Samples 1 and 4, and another piece of the cast-iron, were also well 
scoured, and then subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid of different 
strengths. The amount of iron dissolved in each case was determined analy- 
tically, and the results show that in all cases the cast-iron was more rapidly 



700 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



attacked, corroded and dissolved than the steel. The following are the 
numbers obtained for equal areas, very nearly 20 square inches, in each 
case : 







Grammes of Iron dissolved. 




Cast-Iron 


No. 1 


No. 2. 


With 10 per cent Hhdr. Chi. Acid 
Do. do. 




3 19 
8.69 
9.19 


1.S7 
2.15 
0-39 






1.24 
0.30 


With 3 per cent. do. 







These figures show that in every case the iron was considerably more 
attacked than the steel, and that the most dilute acid which attacked and 
dissolved so large an amount of the cast-iron had hardly any action on the 
steel. 

The same three plates used in the above experiments were again 
thoroughly scoured with sand and water, and then were immersed com- 
pletely in separate vessels of ordinary London water. In two to three days 
rusting took place in each case, but perceptibly more rust was formed with 
the cast-iron than with the samples of steel. 

These observations and experiments lead to the conclusion (as far as 
they can be trusted as indications obtained in the short time at my disposal), 
that pipes made of cast-iron and used for the conveyance of sewage, would 
corrode and rust, more especially at the level of the surface of the liquid 
passing through them, more rapidly than similar pipes made of steel, such 
as you submitted to me. 



REPORT BY 

AUG. DUPRF, Ph. D., F. R. S., F. C. S. 

London, August 9th, 1886. 

In accordance with your request I have made two series of careful ob- 
servations of the action of two samples of Dundee water on four samples of 
metal, viz.: cast-iron, wrought-iron, and two samples of steel. 

The experiments were made by your instructions after the removal of 
the films of oxide encrusting the surfaces of the metal plates. In the first 
set of observations, the plates were kept entirely submerged under water in 
a closed vessel, the water being aerated once in every 24 hours. In the second 
set the plates were similarly submerged, but the water was kept fully aerated 
by a constant stream of air during the last three days of the experiment. 
The first experiment occupied seven days, and the second one six days. 

The detailed results of these observations, as well as the analytical data 
of a partial examination of the two waters, are given iii the annexed tables. 
I regret that the time at my disposal has prevented my extending these ob- 
servations. 

As far as the experiments have gone, they show that the waters as such 
have little or no action on any of the metals submitted to me for examina- 
tion. What action there is, is due practically entirely to the oxygen dis- 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



701 



solved in the water. This is clearly shown in series one, in which the action 
is extremely slight, the differences between the several results being but lit- 
tle more than that due to the unavoidable error of experiment. 

In series two, the actual differences found between the various metals 
are but slight, but the cast-iron appears on the whole to be acted on least ; 
then come, in order of least action, steel 4, wrought- iron XX, and steel X. 
Thus, calling the loss in weight suffered by a given surface of cast-iron one, 
the loss from the same surface in the case of the other metals would be : 

Cast-iron 1 

Steel 4 1.020 

Wrought-iron XX 1 .046 

Steel X 1.09S 

The periods in which equal amounts of metal would be removed from 
the surface would of course stand in the inverse ratio ; for example, steel X, 
the most acted upon, would lose in about ten years as much as the cast-iron, 
the least acted upon, would lose in eleven years. 

It is to be noted that these results were obtained in the second series, 
in which the conditions were of an exceptionally severe nature, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining a definite result in a limited period ; it is also only fair to 
call attention to the fact, that the experiments were made on the brightened 
surfaces of the metals. In the case of the steel, the effect of this would be 
to enhance the chemical action of aerial oxygen dissolved in the water, as 
the process of rolling through which the steel passes in its manufacture 
induces a more or less protective coating of a similar nature to that obtained 
by the Barff's process. 



Observations oe the Action of Two Samples oe Dundee Water 
on Steee, Wrought-Iron and Cast-Iron. 

First Series. 
Time occupied, seven days. Metals kept entirely submerged under 
water in a closed vessel ; water aerated once every 24 hours. Loss calcu- 
lated on a surface of 24 square inches. 





Thickness 

of 

Plate. 


Mark 

on 
Plate. 


Weight 

of 
Plate. 


Monikie. 


Lintrathen. 


Metal. 


Doss 
of weight, 
Water I. 


L,oss 
of weight, 
Water II. 


Steel 


1 in. 

8 

1 " 

1 " 

8 

6 " 

TTX 


4 
X 
XX 


Grammes. 
173.88 

150-55 
190.06 


Grammes. 

0.025 

0.035 

O.OIO 
0.000 


Grammes. 






Wrought-Iron 


0.005 
0.013 







Second Series. 
Time occupied six days, three days without and three days with aeration 
of the water. Metals kept entirely submerged, and water fully aerated 
during the last three days by a constant stream of air. Loss calculated on 
a surface of 24 square inches. 



702 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Metal. 


Mark. 


Loss 

in 

Water I. 


Loss 

in 

Water II. 


Mean. 


Steel 


4 
X 
XX 


Grammes. 
0.310 

0-305 
0.310 
0.294 


Grammes. 
0.280 

0330 

0.295 

0.285 


Grammes. 

0.295 

0.3175 
0.3025 
0.2890 







Partial Analysis of Two Samples of Dundee Water. 





Sample No. 1. 

Grains 

per Gallon. 


Sample No. 2. 

Grains 

per Gallon. 




7-5o 
5-o 
5-o 
1.274 
Trace 
0.0056 
0.27 cubic in. 


3-36 
3 
3-o 
0.504 


Hardness before boiling 








0.0017 
0.27 cubic in. 







REPORT BY 

WILLIAM WALLACE, F. R. S. E., F. C. S , F. I. C. 

City Analyst's Laboratory, ) 

138 Bath Street, Glasgow, [• 

August 17 th, 1886. ) 

At the request of Messrs. Duncan Bros., Engineers, 32 Oueen Victoria 
Street, London, E. C. , I have made a series of tests with a view of ascertain- 
ing the comparative resisting power of cast-iron, malleable iron, and mild 
steel to the action of — ■ 

1st. — The Loch Katrine water as used in Glasgow. 

2d. — The Tay water as supplied in Perth. 

3rd. — Dilute hydrochloric acid (1 per cent.). 

I have also tried the action of dilute hydrochloric acid (3 per cent.) on 
plates of cast-iron, malleable iron, and mild steel, which had been coated 
with Smith's composition, and with an improved composition, obtained by 
mixing Smith's liquid with 20 per cent, of finely pulverized chalk. The de- 
tailed results are given in the accompanying tables. 

The plates were all of the same dimensions, 6 in. x 2 in., and each plate 
was immersed in two litres of water or dilute acid. The figures show the 
amount of metallic iron dissolved per litre of water or acid, or in parts per 
1,000 of the liquid. 

The hydrochloric acid employed contained 40.6 per cent, of real acid. 

As regards the comparative action of the water supplies of Glasgow 
and Perth, both waters of remarkable softness and purity, there is at first 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 703 



little difference between the two, but after a time the Perth water appears 
to act more upon the malleable iron and steel plates than the Glasgow sup- 
ply, and slightly less than upon the cast-iron. As regards the dilute acid, 
it was practically saturated with iron in little more than a week, and the 
liquid began to deposit peroxide of iron. 

Comparing the action of the waters upon the metals, there is all through 
less action upon the cast-iron plate than upon the others ; while there is no 
practicable difference between the malleable iron and steel. In the dilute 
acid the cast-iron dissolves the most rapidly at first, but after six days it dis- 
solves less rapidly than the others. 

The coated plates show apparently anomalous results, but these are no 
doubt due to imperfections in the coating. There can be no doubt, how- 
ever, of the superior protection afforded by the improved composition, 
arising, I believe, from the greater thickness of material the plates are able 
to retain. In the second column of Table 2, the steel plate comes out best 
all through, and at the end of the experiment leaves the liquid decidedly 
acid, while in the others the acid is all taken up. 

It is therefore evident that steel plates or pipes, properly coated, will 
stand at least as well as cast or malleable iron. 



Table i. 

Showing the amount of iron dissolved by Loch Katrine water, Perth 
water, and dilute hydrochloric acid (1 per cent.) per litre of liquid. The 
plates were 6x2 inches, and were immersed in two litres of liquid, in vessels 
covered but not air tight. 

Loch Katrine Perth Dilute 

Water. Water. Acid 

) Cast-iron 0024 .0025 

After 1 day ,-Malleable Iron 005 .0045 

J Steel 0048 



.005 



) Cast-Iron 

After 2 days > Malleable Iron. 

Steel 



85 



~) Cast-Iron 009 .0086 3 

After 4 days [-Malleable Iron on .022 3 

J Steel 017 .024 3. 

) Cast-Iron 013 .011 3 

After 6 da3'S V Malleable Iron 032 .035 4 

) Steel 021 .04 4 

) Cast-Iron 025 .025 3 

After 8 days '-Malleable Iron. 042 .055 4 

) Steel 035 .055 4. 

~) Cast-iron 027 .03 3 

After n days r Malleable Iron 046 .09 4 

j Steel 04S .085 4 

1 Cast-iron 063 .043 4 

After 15 da3'S ^Malleable Iron 065 .110 4 

J Steel 073 .110 4 



Table 2. 

Showing the action of dilute hydrochloric acid (3 per cent.) 011 plates of 
cast-iron, malleable iron, and mild steel, coated with Smith's composition, 
containing 20 per cent of ground chalk. 

The figures show the amount of iron in grammes, dissolved per litre of 
liquid or parts per 1,000. 



704 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Smith's Improved 
Composition. Composition. 

") Cast-Iron 6.0 2.1 

After 2 davs > Malleable Iron 2.5 2.7 

J Steel 6.5 1.0 

) Cast-Iron. 9.0 4.5 

After 4 davs > Malleable Iron 6.0 50 

J Steel. 76 2.0 

"1 Cast-Iron 9.0 7.0 

After 6 days V Malleable Iron 7.0 S.2 

j Steel 90 2.5 

) Cast-Iron 9.0 9.0 

After 9 days > Malleable Iron 9.0 8.6 

(Steel 9.0 4.0 

~) Cast-Iron 10.0 10.6 

After 1 1 day-s ;- Malleable Iron 9.6 9.6 

J Steel 11.0 5.5 

"(Cast-Iron 10. o 10.6 

After 13 days >-Malleable Iron 10.6 106 

J Steel 12.4 8.3 



On Wrought-Iron and Steel Pipes for the Conveyance 
of Water and Gas. 

By W. S. WEI/TON, Assoc. M. Inst., C. E. 

Wrought-iron pipes have been extensively used in California and 
South America for over thirty years, for the conveyance of the large vol- 
umes of water required in what is known as the " hydraulic process " of 
mining, and for the water supply of towns. The ordinary diameter of 
these pipes is from 10 to 30 inches, and the thickness of iron plate em- 
ployed, except in particular cases, is hardly ever over No. 10 B. W. G., or 
less than No. 16 B. W. G., according to the head of water or static pressure 
to be sustained by the pipes. An 1 8 inch diameter pipe of No. 10 B. W. G. 
iron with J^-inch rivets, laid down by the writer in January, 1885, has been 
sustaining a working pressure of 162 pounds to the square inch since then, 
and is perfectly tight and gives every satisfaction to the owners. This forms 
a portion of a pipe 19,000 feet long, and was made in Scotland. 

The first pipes of this kind, laid by the writer about twenty years ago, 
were obtained from San Francisco, and were of the ordinary kind used in 
the hydraulic mines of California, diameters 15 and 18 inches of Nos. 14 
and 15 B. W. G. iron. These conduct soft water ; they are still in good 
working order and show no signs of decay from rust, although the3^ have 
never had a coating of paint or asphaltum. 

The pipes are made in sections of about 2 feet 6 inches long, double or 
single riveted at the ends ; ten of these sections form a single pipe termi- 
nating in a taper piece at each end for forming a sleeve joint of six inches 
in length ; the pipes are connected together by simply driving one into the 
other. In California, the pipes after being made are coated with a compo- 
sition of asphaltum or mineral tar, by being dipped in a trough of this 
composition maintained at a high temperature by means of a furnace 
placed beneath. In America it is customary for the manufacturer to 
cut the plates of iron to size, punch the rivet holes along the sides and roll 
them ; the plates are then nested and bundled for sending to the mines. 
This allows of great saving in freight and cost of handling in transit to the 
mines. 

Each joint is made taper, to drive into the next joint about 1% inches. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 705 

As the taper upon each length of pipe, of plate of the thickness of No. 16 
and No. 10 B. W. G. iron is very slight, it is very difficult to obtain this pre- 
cisely in punching the side rivet holes, and in joining together the sections. 
The smaller end has frequently to be expanded by hammering, or it is driven 
a considerable distance into the next pipe before a tight fit can be obtained ; 
this is apparently the reason why it is found best in California to punch the 
end holes at the mine or where the pipe is made. At the mines the pipe is 
roughly made, and a large amount of leakage takes place when the water is 
first turned into a new line of pipes, and sawdust or chopped hay has to be 
thrown into the water passing through the pipe to assist to form tight joints. 
With this application, after a few days of constant running the leakage is 
very small. In pipes laid by the writer the leakage amounted to about 4% of 
the quantity of water flowing through the pipe at a velocity of 30 ft. per 
second and might have been entirely prevented if there had been any neces- 
sity for so doing. 

Pipes for mining operations are generally laid upon the surface of the 
ground, and can be taken apart almost instantly and removed to some other 
section of the mine. They follow the undulations of the surface, excepting 
where a narrow high ridge is met with or a deep ravine has to be crossed. 
In such cases a cutting or level is made, or the pipe is carried upon high 
trestle work of slight construction and nailed together. 

In California it is customary to draw the pipes into each other to form 
the joints by means of blocks or screw jacks ; the writer, however, has 
found a small battering-ram, consisting of a piece of timber 8 inches in 
diameter, and from four to five feet long, swung by four men, to be much 
more convenient and effective, as the pipe has frequently to pass places 
where there would be no means of fixing jacks, and it is found that the 
solid blow of the ram drives the pipe a greater distance than blocks will take 
it, and makes a much tighter joint. Again, in California the small end of 
the pipe forming the joint is placed down stream ; this produces leaky joints, 
as there is a tendency for the water to draw in air at these joints, and suck 
out any dirt which would assist in making a tighter joint. 

The writer always places the taper end up stream, and in this way the 
water is continually beating on the packing and carrying sand into the 
joint, and so stops any leak which may occur. Pipes put together on this 
system become perfectly tight, and it is most difficult to take them apart 
again, such is the wedging up which takes place from the pressure of the 
water within the pipe. 

The pipe made for the writer in Scotland was cut and punched on 
sides and ends as for straight joints without any taper, and then one 
end was passed through rolls and expanded so as just to take in the un- 
expanded end of the next joint ; one joint was then riveted up the side, 
and four other joints were curled up and nested inside of this for shipment 
to South America. These pipes were riveted and put together by natives 
who had never done such work before (a much less intelligent class of men 
than the California miner, who is generally his own smith and carpenter), 
and turned out to be quite tight, and required very little drifting to get all 
the end rivet holes to correspond. This form of joint the writer considers 
very superior to the joint used in California, and cost less, as the whole of 
the rivet holes are punched by machinery, and the plates do not require to 



706 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



be marked for punching ; one edge is punched at one blow, the plate is 
then turned over, and the other side punched in a similar manner, and thus 
a perfect correspondence of holes is obtained. 

The Cherokee pipe, California, diameter 30 inches, is made in straight 
joints, put together in the same manner as a cylindrical steam boiler. The 
sides are double-riveted, ends single-riveted, rivets one inch apart. 

The plate of which it is constructed is of inferior quality, and the 
rivets are too close together. The writer has found \ x / 2 inches distance 
apart for side rivets, and 2 inches apart for end rivets to give tight joints, 
and not weaken the iron. The Cherokee pipe is riveted from end to end, 
and in ordinary mine pipes it was formerly a custom in California to rivet 
lugs or hooks upon the ends of each pipe, and bind these together with 
strong wire after the pipes had been driven into each other 

The writer has found that with a working pressure of water of 160 lbs. 
to the inch, it is quite unnecessary to secure the pipes together in any other 
way than by merely driving one into the other about six inches, and that 
this allows for all alterations produced by expansion and contraction from 
changes of temperature. The Cherokee pipe, laid down about sixteen years 
ago, is in perfect order yet, and shows no signs of decay. The greater por- 
tion of this pipe is laid in a trench cut to receive it. The pipes laid by the 
writer have been mostly laid upon the surface, or suspended from ledges of 
rock cliffs, and are for the greater portion of their length quite exposed to 
the atmosphere ; these show no signs of deterioration from rust. The 
variation of temperature was 40 ° F., and no expansion joints were required, 
although the pipe, 19,000 feet in length, was fully exposed. 

In England, on account of the extreme cold, a pipe of this kind would 
have to be placed a certain depth in the ground, and with such thin material 
it might be supposed that the pipe would crush. As an instance of the 
strength of these pipes to withstand a crushing pressure, one pipe of No. 14 
B. W. G iron of 2 ft. in diameter, laid by the writer, passed through a cut- 
ting 30 ft. deep, cut in sand then filled in again ; this shows no signs of 
crushing or flattening. A similar pipe of No. 14 B. W. G. iron, 4 ft. in 
diameter, placed upon the surface head of water 12 ft., showed a slight 
tendency to flatten, but upon placing logs of wood under each side, this 
pipe is found to answer perfectly. A good deal of this stiffness is probably 
due to the pipes being constructed in short lengths, and to the horizontal 
seams being placed to break joint. At every 2 ft. 6 in. length there is a 
double thickness of metal from 1 }i to 2 inches wide, firmly riveted together. 

In laying pipes underground there is a far better opportunity of sup- 
porting them than when laid upon the surface, and the writer is of opinion 
that a 3 ft. diameter pipe of No. 12 B. W. G. iron, with the earth properly 
packed underneath, would withstand the pressure of any depth of cutting, 
provided the cutting wts not excessively wide, as his experience in under- 
ground work and deep cuttings is that, however deep the filled-iu cutting 
may be, the pressure upon the timbers supporting the roof of the gallery 
below is not more than equal to the depth of filling 3 % times the width of 
the cutting ; when the filling is of ordinary earth well rammed in with rock- 
filling the pressure would be less, and with wet sand more. 

From the long experience of the writer in laying and using pipes of 
thin wrought-iron plates, he is of opinion that these are eminently adapted 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 707 

for gas pipes and water mains for the supply of towns, and that they possess 
many advantages over pipes of cast-iron. 

In the operation of laying, the lightness of the pipes makes them so 
easy to handle that no heavy machinery is required for lowering them into 
place, and the laying can be quickly and cheaply performed. There is no 
danger of any defective pipes being laid, as any defects in the material of 
their construction would be discovered in the manufacture ; mild steel pipes 
possess homogeneity, strength and elasticity, and these are pre-eminently 
the qualities required in pipes for water mains, which are liable to be sub- 
jected to sudden excessive strains. 

In pipes for supplying water to mines a certain amount of leakage at 
the connecting joints is of no consequence, but in water mains and gas pipes 
this would be objectionable. The difficulty has been completely got over by 
Mr. D. J. Russell Duncan, Assoc. M. Inst. C. E-, who has devised and pat- 
ented a form of joint for connection of steel and wrought-iron pipes which 
combines all the essential points of the ordinary connections made use of by 
the makers of cast-iron pipes. This connection consists in expanding one 
end of the pipe, and the other end is also turned up. 

It will be seen that the cost of laying light steel or wrought-iron pipes 
would be less than that of laying the usual heavy cast-iron pipes, but this is 
not the only saving. The steel pipes themselves can now be supplied, di- 
ameter for diameter, at a considerable less price than cast-iron pipes. 



We are also indebted to Messrs. Duncan Brothers for the 
following copy of their argument presented to the Dundee 
Water Commissioners, proving the superior advantages of their 
pipe over cast-iron pipe. 

DUNDEE WATER WORKS. 

LlNTRATHEN SUPPIyY. 

1887. 

To the Dundee Water Commissioners. 

Gentlemen: — Specifications having been issued by your Engineer for 
the pipes required in making and completing the new water mains from 
Lintrathen to Shanzie, and from Shanzie to Pitnappie Reservoir, a conven- 
ient opportunity is afforded for considering the advantages which mild steel 
posseses over cast-iron as a material for the construction of water mains. 

As you are already aware, a mild steel water main is laid on the Tay 
Viaduct, and is the first of its kind in Scotland. This main is 9 inches 
internal diameter, made of steel plates % i nc h thick, in lengths of 18 feet, 
the joints being formed on a patented principle by sockets stamped from 
solid steel, which fit over the spigot ends of the pipes, and are made water- 
tight in the usual manner, with yarn and lead. 

These pipes are also coated by an improved patented process, whereby 
a thick and durable composition is deposited over the whole internal and 
external surfaces. 

The whole work was carried out to the entire satisfaction of your 



708 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



engineer, and the fact that the Tay Viaduct main, throughout its whole 
length of about two miles, is a great success, and a novel and thoroughly 
good piece of engineering work can be demonstrated by actual observations 
on the viaduct. 

The pipes required for the Tintrathen mains are the following, all 27 
inches diameter : 

Section A. — Tintrathen to Shanzie. 

360 yards, 1% inches thick, weighing 166 tons. 
145 " 1 inch " " 60 " 

3,280 " % inch " ' 1,14s " 

3,785 1,374 " Cast Iron. 

or, 
3,785 yards, Ys inch thick, weighing 580 " Mild Steel. 

Section B— Shanzie to Pitnappie Reservoir. 

3,652 yards, 1^8 inches thick, weighing 2,454 tons. 



2,512 " 


1Y2 


" 


" 


" 


i,55i " 


3,4oo " 


1% 


" 


" 


" 


1,908 " 


1,060 " 


i« 


" 


" 


" 


539 " 


216 " 


iVb 


" 


" 


" 


99 " 


1,740 " 


1 








718 » 


12,580 'J 






or, 




7,269 " Cast Iron. 


3,652 yards 


y% 


inch 


thick, 


weighii 


g 945 tons. 


5,9i 2 " 


% 


" 


" 


" 


1,221 •' 


3,016 " 


T6 


" 


" 


" 


54i " 



12,580 2,707 " Mild Steel. 

The total weights for the two Sections : — 



Section A, 


1,374 




B, 


7,269 


8,643 tons Cast Iron. 


A, 


580 




B, 


2,707 









3,287 tons Mild Steel 



Showing a reduction in weight 

in favor of Steel of - - - 5,356 tons. 

In making the above comparison, the bends and specials are not in- 
cluded. The weight required for them is \62yi, tons cast-iron, or about 70 
tons mild steel. It is unnecessary to go fully into an investigation of these 
special pipes, as they form but a small item in the work ; accordingly in 
discussing the subject of water mains they will be omitted. 

Referring again to the straight mains, a reduction in weight by the use 
of steel from 8,643 to 2,287 tons is 5,350 dead-weight saved, and is equal to 
62 per cent, of the original weight of cast-iron. 

The advantage of this great reduction will at once be evident, as it 
means 62 per cent, of the cost of carriage saved, and the same amount of 
saving in cost of handling the pipes during the process of laying. 

There are yet other great advantages which must be mentioned, viz., 
the economy effected in the construction of bridges which do not have such 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



709 



heavy loads to carry ; also, wherever the track is laid in soft ground there 
is less liability, on account of the smaller weight, for steel pipes to sink or 
otherwise follow the undulations due to movable soil. This latter advantage 
mainly affects the jointing and the maintenance of the pipe line. Frequent 
cases of leakage at the joints of water mains have arisen in consequence of 
the pipes being laid in soft and shifting ground, causing the pipes to deviate 
from the line of level in which they were originally laid, as cast-iron is 
rigid and brittle, quite incapable of bending, and, unlike steel in this 
respect, the result has been in such cases a fractured joint. Steel, on the 
other hand, being lighter, has not so much tendency to displace soft soil ; 
it is malleable, ductile, and having great elasticity compared with cast-iron, 
does not break or fracture under such circumstances. 

As there is no part of the Iyintrathen pipe track subject to undue ex- 
ternal loads, it is needless to discuss the comparative strengths of steel and 
cast-iron pipes under such circumstances ; the only point worthy of note is 
this, that whereas cast-iron will fracture, steel will only bend under external 
pressure ; in the former case the pipe leaks, in the latter it remains per- 
fectly water-tight. 

The resistances to internal pressure are set forth in Table No. i. 

Cast-iron has an ultimate tensile strength of 18,000 lbs. per square inch, 
whereas the mild steel, of which these pipes would be made, has an ultimate 
tensile strength not exceeding 62,720 lbs., but not less than 53,760 lbs. per 
square inch. 

The pressures given are calculated by the usual formulae, and the ad- 
vantage in the strength of steel as compared with cast-iron can at once be 
seen on the line indicating the relative working pressures. 



Table No. i. 
cast IRON. 



Thickness of Metal, inches. 
Working Pressure, feet.... 



T-Yi 


1% 


1% 


I« 


i/s 


I 


500.4 


461.9 


423-4 


3S49 


346.4 


307 9 



269.4 



MILD STEEL. 








Va 


V, 


% 


7 
Iff 


7 

lis 


y& 


1149.4 


919-6 


919.6 


804.6 


804.6 


689.6 



Thickness of Metal, inches. 
Working Pressure, feet 



Strength of Cast Iron Pipe, 
of Mild Steel " . 



I 
2.297 


I 

1.991 


I 
2.172 


I 
2.091 


I 

2.323 


I 
2.240 



2.560 



If Steel Pipes were designed to be of equal strength to pipes of Cast Iron, the thickness 
would become : — 



Thickness of Metal, inches 
" nearest fraction 

Thickness proposed 

Margin 



.2721 


.2511 


.2302 


.2093 


.1884 


.1674 


9 
32 


% 


V* 


7 

32 


3 


32" 


% 


V* 


% 


7 


T8" 


yi 


1 1 
3^ 


% 


u 


7 
T3" 


y 


7 

3 2" 



.1464 

5 
32" 

% 



710 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



From the above table it will be seen that the mild steel pipes proposed 
are capable of standing on an average two and a quarter times the pressure 
in ordinary working for which the cast-iron pipes are designed. The last 
line, entitled "Margin," indicates the excess of metal in the steel pipes 
over that required to give strength equal to cast-iron — this excess amounting 
to a quarter of an inch, will allow most amply for any corrosion which 
might take place in the pipes, although corrosion is hardly possible, as the 
pipes would be thoroughly protected with the patent composition as used on 
the Tay Viaduct main. 

While on the subject of pressure and relative strength of the pipes, it 
should be noted that the test pressure for steel pipes as given in Table No. 2 
are much higher than those employed for cast-iron. 

The figures prove that, so far as safety is concerned, steel pipes are 
infinitely superior to cast-iron. 





Tabu; No. 2. 
cast iron. 












I,0O0 


900 


1% 
800 


750 


1% 

650 


1 
600 


n 

550 




MII,D STEEL. 




H 

1,750 


% 
1,750 


% 

1,500 


7 
T6 

1,500 


7 
TS" 

1,500 


1,500 


1,500 





With regard to jointing, the number of yarn and lead joints for steel 
pipes is reduced by 33 per cent, on the corresponding number for cast-iron 
pipes. In the one case the pipes have an effective length of iS ft. and in the 
other 12 ft. 

The safety of the whole line of mains is more efficiently secured by re- 
ducing the number of joints, as the risks of leakage are lessened. This 
advantage is an important factor, both in cost of laying and in maintain- 
ance ; about 10 per cent, of lead is saved in each joint, as the circumference 
of the pocket for lead in the steel pipe is smaller than in the cast-iron pipe. 
The total saving of lead in making joints amounts to 42 per cent. There is 
also a proportionate saving in labor. The sockets are formed on the steel 
pipes by rolling and expanding the plates after they have been lap-welded. 
When the socket has been properly formed by the rolling machine, a mas- 
sive mild steel hoop is shrunk on, and the extremity of the socket turned 
over and bell-mouthed, by which process it becomes practically impossible 
for the hoop to come off. The cavity or pocket for lead is deeper at the 
bottom of the socket than at its mouth, consequently after the molten lead 
has set and is thoroughly calked all around, a very strong dove-tailed joint 
is formed, which cannot fracture. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



711 



Table 


No. 3. Section A.— Cast-Iron. 


Length in 
Yards. 


Number of 
Pipes. 


Length each 
Pipe. 


Thickness of 
Metal. 


360 

145 
3,280 


90 
36 
820 


12 ft. 5 in. 
12 ft. 5 in. 
12 ft. 5 in. 


t-Vz in. 
1 in. 
V& in. 


3,785 


946 







MILD STEEL. 



3.7S5 



631 



18 ft. 5 in. 



Section B.— Cast-Iron. 



3,652 


913 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


i s A in. 


2,512 


628 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


1% in. 


3,400 


850 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


1% in. 


1, 060 


265 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


1% in. 


216 


4 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


i}i in. 


1,740 


435 


12 ft. 


5 in. 


1 in. 


12,580 


3,145 









MILD STEEL. 




3,652 


609 


iS ft. 5 in. 


V& in. 


5912 


986 


18 ft. 5 in. 


^ in. 


3,016 


503 


18 ft. 5 in. 


Tc in - 


12,580 


2,098 







Total number of joints — cast iron, 

MILD STEEL, 

Reduction in number of joints, 



4,091 
2,729 



1,362 



The question of durability is often raised by gentlemen to whom the 
subject of mild steel is introduced for the first time. There is a general 
opinion on the part of those who have not gone closely into the question 
that mild steel corrodes more rapidly than cast-iron, and that because pipes 
made of steel are thinner than those made of cast-iron, they must necessarily 
be weaker and more liable to the corrosive action of soft water or the 
moisture of the atmosphere. 

Numerous tests have been made, under varying conditions, by leading 
scientific men, but the results in no way prejudice the introduction of mild 
steel for all purposes as well as for pipes. 



712 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Cast-iron is liable to serious adulteration with carbon, either iu a com- 
bined form or graphitic, as well as with silicon-phosphorus and other impu- 
rities, the result of which is that corrosion frequently occurs throughout 
the mass of metal, in consequence of galvanic action set up by the graphitic 
carbon — at first on the surface, but in many cases (aggravated by the poros- 
ity of the metal) it extends to a considerable depth, and finally decomposes 
the iron. All castings, wherever the metal is thick, such as pipes of i% 
inch metal, are more porous, and have a larger percentage of air holes and 
other defects than thinner castings. Experience has proved that the thicker 
the casting the more unsound it becomes. Mild steel plates are nearly pure 
metallic iron. All the impurities are eliminated, and the metal — rolled 
under great pressure — is quite homogeneous. 

There is no evidence to show that mild steel will not last as long as cast- 
iron, and its constant use in these days for structures — such as the Forth 
Bridge and other large undertakings — as well as for water mains, is conclu- 
sive evidence that engineers and scientific men familiar with the material 
do not hesitate to employ it on every possible opportunity. 

As the process of manufacturing mild steel plates on the Siemens-Martin 
principle has not been many years before the public, and it is only recently 
that mild steel has become a commercial commodity, it cannot be said that 
the experience of half a century, or even of five and tv/enty years, can be 
obtained as evidence of its durability. 

There is abundant testimony, however, to the long life of wrought-iron 
pipes — as used in America — many lines of pipes not exceeding ]/% inch thick 
having been at work over thirty years, and still working in perfect condition, 
without any trace of corrosion. 

To meet the prejudices against the use of mild steel, it was necessary to 
employ a protective covering or coating for steel pipes, and, after great 
trouble, a composition was found and patented, which has since been ex- 
tensively applied. This composition can be put on to any desired thickness, 
and is very adhesive to the metal, pliable, yet not soft, and without effect 
in flavoring the water. It is not acted upon by water or air, and, so far as is 
yet known, is practically imperishable. 

As this composition completely covers the whole of the metallic sur- 
faces, there is no opportunity for oxygen, either in air or water, to attack 
the steel plates ; hence the probability of extensive corrosion setting in is 
extremely remote. By the addition of a small quantity of chalk or lime to 
the coating composition, a skin can be formed on the surface of the pipe, 
which has an affinity for the lime in the water, and by this means, instead 
of corrosion or oxidation taking place, a crust of lime will in time be formed 
on the inside of the pipe, which will still add to the protective covering. 
The external surfaces of the pipes are sometimes— after being coated, and 
while still hot — sprinkled with clean, sharp sand, and by this process are 
asphalted on the outside in such a manner as to be perfectly protected. The 
approximate weight of composition which would be used upon the steel 
pipes is 55 tons. 

In conclusion, it may be stated that many corporations and private 
firms are becoming keenly alive to the advantages of mild steel pipes. The 
Imperial Government of Japan is about to lay a large quantity of mild steel 
pipes, 33 inches internal diameter, made of plates only ^\ in. thick. The 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 713 



Vancouver Water Works Company have decided to lay a great many miles 
of wrought-iron or mild steel pipes, 16-in. and 22-in. diameter, made of plates 
Y% in. thick. 

The Bournemouth Commissioners recently contracted for a storm out- 
fall, 36 inches diameter, to be laid in the sea, over 2,000 feet in length, all 
made of mild-steel plate % in. thick ; and one of the largest municipal 
corporations in England is at the present time negotiating for a mild-steel 
main, 42 inches diameter, to be made of plates % in. thick, about two miles 
long. 

Many other cases could be cited, but these facts are sufficient to prove 
that mild-steel pipes will take the place of cast-iron mains, and prove to be 
stronger, more durable and more economical. 

The financial aspect of the question has not been fully discussed in this 
paper, as the tenders submitted for your consideration will speak for them- 
selves. It is only necessary to point out here that, for equal strength, mild- 
steel mains are less expensive than cast-iron mains, and that steel of 2% 
times the strength required for cast-iron cannot be produced at the same 
price. In all cases where steel takes the place of cast-iron for large water 
mains, there must always be a substantial reduction in the cost of laying 
and jointing. 

Having created a special line of business in this branch of engineering, 
and been encouraged in its development by the enterprising spirit which 
your able engineer displayed when he recommended the adoption of mild- 
steel mains for the Tay Viaduct, as well as by the support which you have 
already given to this new industry, we recommend this paper to your favor- 
able consideration. 

We have the honor to be, gentlemen, 

Your obedient servants, 

Duncan Bros. 

London, September 29th, 1887. 



714 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 

Chicago, Ills., June ist, 1893. 
E. C. Converse, Genl. Mgr. National Tube Works Co., New York. 

I have before me the Annual Reports of fifteen cities who have had 
Wrought-Iron Cement Lined Water Pipe in use, and I submit a few 
extracts from the reports. I regret that I have not time to submit extracts 
more in detail. In order that the data may be verified, if necessary, I give 
the dates of the several reports, and the pages on which the data may be 

found. 

Baltimore, Md., December 31, 1887. 
There were 410 leaks on main pipes, of sizes from 2 to 40 inches. 



Baltimore, Md., December 31, li 
There were 482 leaks on main pipes, of sizes from 1% to 40 inches. 



Burlington, Vt., December 31, 1886. 
pp. 4. Replacing cement pipe. 

Pipe $1,21396 

Labor 1,109 67 

Lead, Packing and Wood 183 06 

$2,506 69 
pp. 6. The cement pipe in the following streets has been replaced this season with 

cast-iron pipe. 

4-inch : Elm St., from Spruce to Adams 635 ft. 

6-inch : Spruce St. , from St. Paul to Union 930 ft. 

6-inch : St. Paul St., from Spruce, southerly 536 ft 

pp. 7. 6 inch : William St., between College and Pearl 100 ft. 

10-inch : Pearl, from Champlain to Church 1163 ft. 

10-inch : Pine Street 42 ft. 

10-iuch : St. Paul Street 42 ft. 

10-inch : Elmwood Avenue 24 ft. 

4-iuch : George Street 24 ft. 

Total length of Pipe replaced 3496 ft. 

pp. 9. The repairs made during the year have been as follows : 

On Cement Pipe 16 Breaks. 

On Cement Pipe 11 Leaks. 

On Cement Pipe 2 Pick holes. 

On Iron Pipe 3 Breaks. 

On Iron Pipe 12 Leaks. 

pp. 10. RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Although the number of breaks has been less than the previous year, I would 
recommend that the appropriation for replacing cement pipe be increased. 
Respectfully submitted, 

F. H. Parker, Superintendent. 



Burlington, Vt., December, 31, 1887. 
Replacing Cement Pipe. 

Cast -Iron Pipe $1,568 19 

Labor 592 47 

Packing and Lead 201 66 

$2,362 32 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 715 



Until such time as the Cement Pipes in those streets is replaced by Iron Pipe, 
when permanent connections will be made. 

The cement pipe in the following streets has been replaced this season, with 
cast-iron Pipe : 

4-inch : Church Street, northerly from Adams 430 ft. 

4-inch : Maple Street, westerly from Elm 180 ft. 

6-inch : Champlain Street, from Pearl to Peru 803 ft. 

6-inch : Smith's Lane 65 ft. 

4-inch: Peru Street 36 ft. 

4-iuch: Monroe Street 63 ft. 

Total length of Cement Pipe replaced 1577 ft. 



Burlington, Vt., December 31, 1888. 

pp. 5. Replacing Cement Pipe, Cast Iron Pipe $2,06940 

Labor 912 93 

Packing, Lead, Stops . 460 46 

$3-442 79 

pp. 10. The Buel street pipe is connected with the South Willard street pipe, the 

Hickok street with the North Union street pipe, and the Haswell street with the 
North Avenue pipe by small pipes, until such times as the cement pipe of those 
streets shall be replaced by iron pipes, when permanent connections will be made. 
The Cement Pipe in the following streets has beeu replaced with cast iron pipe 
this season : 

4-inch : Decatur Street, from North Winooski Avenue 549 ft- 

4-inch : Elm Street, from Maple to Adams 540 ft. 

6-inch : Champlain to North 690 ft. 

6-inch : Battery Street, from Bank to Pearl 830 ft. 

10-inch : Battery, from Pearl to Battery Place 630 ft. 

pp. 11. 4-inch: Bank 43 ft. 

4-inch : Cherry Street 62 ft. 

Total length of Cement Pipe replaced 3,344 ft. 

pp. 12. The repairs since April 25th, have been : 

On cement pipe 6 Breaks. 

On cement pipe 6 Leaks. 

On cement pipe 2 Pick holes. 

On Iron Pipe 3 Leaks. 



Burlington, Vt., December 31, 1S90. 
pp. 11. The Cement Pipe in North Street, between Front Street and North Avenue, 

has been replaced with 10-inch cast iron pipe a distance of 420 ft. 

pp. 12. The repairs for the year have been : 

On Cement Pipe 10 Breaks. 

On Cast Iron Pipe 2 Split Pipes. 

On Cast Iron Pipe 3 Joint Leaks. 

pp. 14. THE SEASON'S WORK. 

At the opening of the season advantage was taken of the opportunity afforded 
to replace the cement pipe remaining in North Street between the 10-inch iron 
pipe laid last season, and North Avenue. 

A short piece of cement pipe * * * has been replaced with iron pipe * * * 
and the weak pipe relieved of the heavy pressure which for years it has been 
declaring its inability to stand. Since the above repairs were effected there have 
been no breaks reported from the North yard, which, considering the fact that 
heretofore about one-half of all the breaks occurring on Cement Pipe happened 
on that line, it is very noticeable as well as gratifying alteration of circumstances. 



716 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



15. Owing to the large amount of work, in the line of general repairs, demand- 

ing attention, the department was unable to lay all the cast-iron pipe procured for 
the purpose of replacing cement. 



Chelsea, Mass. Year ending 1890. 
pp. 16. The Cement Pipe originally laid, has been to a large extent replaced by 

iron pipe. 

REPORT OF WATER COMMISSIONERS. 
Another official year has closed, and it is with considerable satisfaction and 
not a little pride, that your Commissioners are enabled to present so favorable a 
record of substantial work accomplished ; more especially in the removal of the 
old cement-lined pipe, which has entailed large expense and no end of trouble in 
the matter of breakage and leakage. The Commissioners hesitate somewhat in 
the matter of recommending further outlays in continuing the good work so suc- 
cessfully commenced, solely on account of the city finances and the great demands 
which will doubtless be made upon the treasury the ensuing year ; but they 
nevertheless fully believe that it will be economy to continue the work, and that 
there is no better or more auspicious a time to do necessary work in the water de- 
partment than when it is absolutely needed to perfect the system. * * * Your 
Commissioners feel safe in predicting that with the completion of the replacement 
hoped for in the near future, that Chelsea will have a water system second to no 
other in the Commonwealth. 



pp. 102. CEMENT-LINED PIPE RHXAID WITH CAST-IRON PIPE- 

In Everett Avenue 1682 ft. 6-inch. 

In Broadway 1183 ft. 10-inch. 

In Walnut street 2259 ft. 8-iuch. 

In Orange street 510 ft. 6-inch. 

In Addison street 518 ft. 6-inch. 

In Grove street 2012 ft. 6-inch. 

In Bellingham street 852 ft. 6-inch. 

In Spruce street 57 2 ft- 10-inch. 

In Cottage street 500 ft. 6-iuch. 

In Division street 3 2 7 ft- 6-inch. 

Total 10.414 ft. 6-inch. 

47 Breaks have occurred on the distribution pipes : 

6 on the 3-iuch. 

24 on the 4-inch. 

14 on the 6-inch. 

2 on the 8-inch. 

1 on the 10-inch. 

47 
pp. 103. The water has been shut off and let on for leaks and repairs 227 times. 



Concord, N. H., December 31, 1890. 

pp. 9-10. EXTENSIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 

pp. 10. In Ferry Street, East from Main street, 425 feet 4-inch cement-lined pipe has 

been replaced with 4-inch iron pipe. 

pp. 13. The Board are not prepared at this time to recommend a plan for overcom- 

ing the weakness of our present system. 



DEDHAM WATER COMPANY. 

Dedham, Mass., January 12, 1891. 
(Extracts from the address of the President, Winslow Warren, to the stock- 
holders). 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 717 



pp. 3. But one leak has developed upon the main line, a defective joint repaired at 

a cost of $6. 06 * * * In this connection, I would state the remarkable fact that 

pp. 4. in Plymouth last season a section of three hundred feet of cement-lined pipe laid 
in 1857 was taken up on account of some alteration of the street, and found in 
such perfect condition that it was relaid, a thing never before done with any kind 
of pipe. * * * 

[Note. — "A thing never before done with any kind of pipe." No doubt 
President Warren was sincere in his statement to the stockholders of 
his water company, but the statement indicates that his knowledge 
of water-works appliances is confined to what he has learned by 
experience at Dedham, or to what somebody at Plymouth has told 
him. If the latter, if Mr. Warren could but induce this one of Ply- 
mouth's 7239 to remove to Dedham (thus increasing Dedham's pop- 
ulation to 6642) Mr. Warren might possibly get some more " Facts " 
from him.] 

Hartford, Conn, March 1, 1S76. 
pp. 5. There has been expended for repairs on hydrants, gates, main and service 

pipes and general repairs, the sum of $25,592 30. 

pp. 6. There is included in the above amount, charged to repairs, the sum of 

$12, 007. So, the same being the cost of taking up and replacing with iron pipe 2544 
feet of 20-inch cement main on Farmington Avenue. These two items taken into 
account we are sure the financial showing is as good or better than for any 
previous year. 

pp. 9. REPAIRS. 

Repairs on Main Pipe $4 490 12 

Taking up and replacing with iron pipe 2544 feet of 20-inch main 12,007 So 

pp. 10. The 20-inch main on the south side of Farmington Avenue 350 feet in length 

has been taken up and relaid [Note.— This happened fifteen years before Prest. 
Warren of Dedham made the statement, "A thing never before done with any 
kind of pipe."], also repairs made to the same, opposite Sisson Avenue, at a cost 
of $604.51. 

pp. 14. NEW TWENTY-INCH MAIN. 

This work, completed at the date of our last report with the exception of the 
connection at Gillett Street, was finished early in April, and the balance of the 
main between Gillett and Broad Streets gradually put under pressure, but before 
getting the full head, a break occurred in front of the residence of Charles F. 
Howard, about one o'clock in the morning of April 12th. This break was 
undoubtedly caused by this length of pipe having been slightly cracked near the 
centre in transportation, and not being discovered at the time of laying it. When 
placed under pressure it was opened about eight feet in length. 

[Note. — This happened to the " new 20-inch cast iron main."] 

During the past season that portion of the old 20-inch cement main on Farm- 
ington Avenue, between the residence of B. F. Cooley and Laurel Street, 1776 feet 
in length, has been taken up and relaid with iron pipe, at a cost of 17,748.77. This 
we are sure has resulted in greatly reducing the waste of water, to say nothing of 
the constant annoyance and expense of digging for, and mending of, joints, which 
has been necessary in this section of pipe for we know not how long. 

pp. 15. Also 22S feet of this same 20 inch main, extending westerly from Bleeker St., 

has been taken up and replaced with iron pipe at a cost of $1,132.16. This dis- 
poses of the last piece of Cement Pipe in this old main conduit east of this point. 
It will thus be seen that this department have expended, the past year, the 
sum of $12,007.80 in taking up 2544 feet of the old 20-inch cement main conduit, 
and replacing it with iron pipe ; and believing it the true policy not to increase 
the construction account, for the sake of making a show on paper, of receipts 
over and above interest and expenses, this amount has been charged where, in 
our judgment, it properly belongs— to repairs of main pipe. 



718 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



WROUGHT IRON AND CEMENT PIPE. 
As this department frequently receives letters from other towns and cities, 
asking with reference to the comparative merits of the Cast Iron and Wrought 
Iron and Cement Pipe in use in this city, perhaps it will not be out of place to 
give a few facts relating to them, and as to the condition of the pipe taken up the 
past season, 
pp. 16. The major part of the wrought iron and cement pipe in use by this depart, 

ment has been laid from six to ten years, the greater portion of it, as we are 
informed, having been laid by contract and the remainder by the department 
itself, under its own immediate supervision. 

The 2544 feet of 20-inch main taken up the past season embraced both a por- 
tion of that laid by contract and that laid by the department itself, and we were 
unable to see any difference in the condition of either. The outer covering of 
cement on at least five-sixths of the pipe was loosened, or to a certain extent de- 
tached from the iron shell, aud the intervening space being filled with water- 
oxidation of the iron to a greater or less extent has been going on, and in a few 
places the rust had extended itself completely through the iron ; very few, if any, 
lengths of pipe were found to be entirely free from rust. Such being the facts, 
it certainly seems to us to be only a question of time as to the final destruction of 
the iron and consequent failure of any line of pipe laid with like material and 
the same kind of workmanship as was here employed. The main trouble, and 
the cause for taking up this main at this time was the constant leakage of the 
joints. 

This leakage at the joints and occasional bursting of the sleeves in the 
larger sizes of this kind of pipe (16 and 20"), has been the principal source of an- 
noyance and expense to this department. The smaller sizes have as yet given us 
very little trouble, but in one or two instances, the past season, leaks have been 
repaired in the six-inch pipe caused by the rusting through of the iron shell ; and 
generally in tapping the pipe the iron is found to be more or less oxidized, and in 
some cases nearly rusted through, showing conclusively that the same destruc- 
tive element is at work in the small as in the larger sizes of the pipe. 

This we believe to be a fair representation of the present condition of the 
Wrought Iron and Cement Pipe in use in this city. 



Hartford, Conn., March 1st, 188S. 
pp. 8. Repairs on main pipe $2,714.13 

pp. 9. WATER MAINS. 

There have been laid, during the past season 15,733 feet of cast-iron mains (see 

appendix), including 5,311 feet to replace cement-lined sheet iron pipes ; and at a 

cost of $16,839.83. 
pp. 12. It will be seen that we have paid all the ordinary expenses ; have expended 

$16,839.83 in laying new cast-iron pipes and replacing cement pipes with iron. 

pp. 15. APPENDIX. 

Cement Lined Pipe Replaced With Iron Pipe. 

Avon, from Windsor to front 410 ft. 6", cost , $538.73 

East, from Belden, north, 207 ft. 6", cost 276.16 

Wethersfield, from Alden, south, 5104 ft. 6" 5,122.53 

$5,937-42 



Hartford, Conn., March 2d, 1891. 
pp. 5. Repairs on main pipe $1,060.93 

pp. 6. WATER MAINS. 

There has been laid the past season 29,218 feet of iron mains (see appendix), 
including 5,505 feet to replace cement-lined pipes, the new main costing $9,539.45, 
and those replacing cement pipes $6,379.19 ; in all $15,918.64. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 719 



pp. 13. APPENDIX. 

Cement Lined Pipe Replaced With Iron Pipe. 

Main, from Suffield to brickyard 3,665 feet 8", cost $4,705.62 

North, from Avon to Front, 763 feet 6", cost 779-33 

Woodland, from Albany, south, 1,077 feet 6", cost 894,24 

$6,379.17 

Lowell, Mass, for 1890. 
pp. 77. LEAKS. 

Very few leaks have occurred in the mains during the past year. 

In November a break occurred at the Corner of .Suffolk and Moody Streets, 
when a 6-inch pipe broke entirely off, caused, probably, by the settling of the 
earth of the sewer ditch. 

Iu December a leak was found in the 24-inch force main at the entrance to the 
reservoir, and excavation was made to the depth of 17 feet, when it was found 
that all it needed was about two minutes work at driving up the joint. 

A leak has been known to exist in the 20-inch pipe, just before crossing the 
canal on Cabot Street, for a long period of years. After digging for eighteen hours 
to the depth of 21 feet the pipe was reached, and the leak repaired with very little 
trouble, after which the gate connecting the corporation line of 20-inch pipe with 
Merrimack Street was opened, and left so for the first time since it was put in 

place. 

Manchester, N. H., December 31, 1887. 

pp. 8. THE FORCE BAND SUPPLY MAIN. 

The force main burst close to the reservoir bank and 14 feet of cast-iron pipe 
was laid in its place, making a connection with the iron pipe laid in the embank- 
ment. 

There have been twenty-two bursts where we have taken out cement pipe 
and put in cast iron. 

There have been three places where water has run into the cellars from bursts 
in the cement pipe, and where the owners of the houses claim damages. Two of 
these claims have not been adjusted. 

Manchester, N. H., December 31, 1889. 
pp. 4. From year to year, small amounts of wrought-iron and cement pipe have been 

replaced with cast iron in places where the former had failed by reason of poor 
workmanship. Realizing that this process must continue, and in order to take 
advantage of the exceptionally low price of iron, your commissioners purchased 
a large supply of water pipe, most of which is now on hand. A few small leaks in 
the cast-iron pipe on Valley Street were all there were on the supply main. 

pp. 9 . DISTRIBUTION PIPE. 

Water pipes have been extended 10,183 feet— nearly two miles. 

pp. 9. Twenty-four streets at an expense of $7- 2 53 

The pipe was taken up and laid over, beside that which was repaired : 
466 feet on Winter Street. 
1017 feet 011 Merrimack from Pine to Beach. 
375 feet on Hollis Street. 
416 feet on Birch Street. 
242 feet on Washington Street 
148 feet on Church Street. 

2664 feet : The pipe 011 these streets had caused the most trouble 
for the last two years, and it was thought best to relay it. 

Three hundred and twenty-four feet of 10-inch cast-iron pipe were relaid at 
the eddy in Amoskeag. The pipe had settled and the lead had started at the joints 
so that they leaked badly and had to be repaired quite often. It was feared that 
it might break some night and wash out the roadway and deprive Amoskeag of 
water till the break could be repaired. It was therefore thought best to lay it over. 

The pipe line under the water across the Merrimack river has been used but 
twice this season ; that was when repairs were being made on the other line. 



720 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



It seems in good condition, Dut as we have said in former reports, a small leak 
would soon cut a large hole in the pipe, and it was necessary to keep water on 
this line only when actually needed, 
pp. 16. The following places are where cement-lined pipe was taken up and cast- 

iron laid : 

[Note.]— The table gives the location upon 24 streets, the totals being as 
follows : 

396 feet of 4-inch pipe. 
1863 feet of 6-:nch pipe. 
355 feet of 8-inch pipe. 
16 feet of io-inch pipe. 

Total, 2830 feet. 



Manchester, N. H., December 31, 1890. 
The force and supply main had about the usual number of leaks. 



DISTRIBUTION PIPES. 

The greater part of the old cement pipe is found to be in bad condition. But 
there are some sections of 50 to 100 feet in length where the cement pipe is per- 
lectly sound, 
pp. 10. The cement pipe has been taken out where it was considered the poorest. It 

will be noticed that the pipes relaid, excepting 430 feet of 10-inch, are the smaller 
sized, mostly 8, 6 and 4-inch. 

Next year we shall have to buy a large amount of pipe if we are to continue 
to re-lay and make extensions, as has been done the past season. 

As a whole, the water works have run with as little trouble the past season 
as any. We have had about the same number of leaks and washouts. All claims 
presented for damages on this account have been adjusted, 
pp. 10. The following places are where cement lined pipe was taken up and cast-iron 

laid: 

Barr street 232 ft. 4 inch. 

Chestnut street 275 ft. 4 inch. 

Walnut street 260 ft. 4 inch. 

Vine street 30 ft. 4 inch. 

797 ft- 4 inch. 

Auburn street 426 ft. 6 inch. 

Bowman street 810 ft. 6 inch. 

Central street 40 ft. 6 inch. 

Douglas street. .. 124 ft. 6 inch. 

Granite street 355 ft. 6 inch. 

Laurel street 40 ft. 6 inch. 

Mast road 461ft. 6 inch. 

Pearl street . . 32 ft. 6 inch. 

Pine street. S ft. 6 inch. 

Second street 48S ft. 6 inch. 

■ 2,684 ft. 6 inch. 

Auburn street 995 ft. 8 inch. 

Cedar street 993 ft. 8 inch. 

Concord street 940 ft. 8 inch. 

Hanover street 929 ft. S inch. 

Manchester street 570 ft. 8 inch. 

Merrimack street 985 ft. 8 inch. 

Pearl street 920 ft. 8 inch. 

Pipe street 330 ft. 8 inch. 

Pine street .. 750 ft. 8 inch. 

Spruce street 640 ft. 8 inch. 

8,052 ft. 8 inch. 

Main street 430 ft, 10 inch. 

430 ft. 10 inch. 

Total 12,063 ft. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 721 



Melrose, Mass., December 31. 1889. 

pp. 4 to 15. QUALITY OF PIPE. 

At the last annual Town Meeting it was voted : " That the Water Commis- 
sioners be requested to seriously consider the question of the merits of iron as 
compared with cement-lined pipe ; the relative cost of the same ; the relative cost 
of repairing, and all collateral expenses. And if it should be found that the 
cement-lined pipe is no better or cheaper than the iron pipe, then the manufac- 
ture of cement-lined pipe be discontinued." 

In complying with the foregoing request, the Board have found themselves 
confronted with so much conflicting testimony, and so little really definite infor- 
mation, that exact data upon which to base an opinion has not been attainable, 
and they are consequently not prepared to make an absolute statement, preferring 
rather to submit such facts as they have acquired and leave the decision with the 
town. 

Melrose has a good plant, with all necessary apparatus for making cement- 
lined pipe. She has also workmen skilled in its manufacture and experienced in 
laying and caring for it. In this respect we possess advantages, both for the prac- 
tice of economy and in securing perfect work over most of the towns with whom 
correspondence has been had. A recognition of these facts and a careful com- 
parison of prices paid by other towns, as well as our own, induces the belief that 
cement-lined pipe can be produced and laid at an average cost of some ten to 
fifteen per cent, less than iron pipe. 

The relative cost of repairing and other collateral expenses can only be given 
approximately, as we have no record of tests to the two kinds of pipe made under 
exactly similar conditions. The weight of evidence, however, appears to be that 
while the expense of repairing a given quantity of iron pipe might be greater than 
for the same amount of cement, the iron is, on the whole, considered safer and 
more reliable, and consequently the aggregate cost of its maintenance would be 
no greater than for cement. 

A satisfactory comparison of the two kinds of pipe as to durability cannot be 
made, inasmuch as sufficient time has not elapsed to demonstrate fully the endur- 
ing qualities of either. Plymouth has cement pipe thirty-eight years old and still 
in use, while Boston has iron pipe forty-three years in service. 

See report about badly corroded and tuberculated cast-iron pipe 
in Boston, under head of Tuberculations, Incrustations, etc., and 
still claimed to be in good condition. Yes, in "good condition," 
but its capacity decreased on account of tuberculations, incrustations, 
furring-up, etc., etc., thus proving that its "serviceability " is lessen- 
ing from year to year as the pipe grows older. Query — would the 
Water Commissioners of the Town of Melrose say, that a water main 
was in " good condition " if, after 43 years service, it was found that 
the discharging capacity of the pipe — on account of tuberculations, 
etc. — was 25 or even 10 per cent, less than when first put in service ? 

These figures, however, are exceptional, and, after a careful examination of 
all the evidence at hand, the board are inclined to regard a fair average of the 
life of both iron and cement pipe to be some twenty to thirty-five years, both being, 
of course, greatly influenced by the existing conditions. 

While each kind of pipe has its merits and each its defenders, it is at the same 
time true that neither has as yet fully established its claim to superiority. This 
fact however, must be admitted : that no instance has come to the knowledge of 
the board where cement pipe has been substituted for iron, whereas it is known 
that in many cases cement has been abandoned and iron put in its place. Under 
all the circumstances, therefore, and in view of the fact that Melrose is consider- 
ing the question of substituting iron for cement pipe, the board call attention to 
the following points as deserving consideration : 

A.— The fact heretofore mentioned, that the town has a full equipment for 
manufacturing and laying cement pipe, and if iron is substituted new apparatus 
will be required. 



722 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



B. — Experience has proved that the chemical action of Spot Pond water on 
iron pipes is such as to cause rapid deterioration. This peculiarity as compared 
with other waters which has been examined is decidedly marked, and, involving 
as it does the question of cost for future maintenance, ought not to be overlooked. 

C— Melrose has a system of cement lined pipe, and it is an open question 
whether a combination of the two is desirable. Experts as a rule' do not approve 
such a union. The judgment of the Board is, that the difference in cost is not 
sufficient to be made a factor in deciding between the two kinds of pipe ; it is 
purely a question of superiority. 

The following letters have been courteously furnished by the gentlemen whose 
names are signed to them, and are entitled to respectful consideration, expressing 
as they do the opinions of men of high authority in the matters of which they write. 
Goodhue & Birney, Water Works Contractors. 

Springfield, Mass., Jan. 20, 1890. 
W. D. Fiske, Esq. 

Replying to yours of the 16th, would say that on the 4, 6 and 8-inch pipe, sizes 
that you would naturally use for extensions, there should be a saving of about 10 
per cent, in cost of cement over cast-iron at present prices. As I understand you 
make and line your own pipe, you can judge if you are able to get some work done 
on the making of pipe at odd spells, when men to whom you give steady employ- 
ment would have nothing else to do. 

Regarding the relative life of the two kinds of pipe, if each is properly made 
and laid, I think the cement would last much the longest. If the work on Cement 
Pipe is carelessly done, the life of the pipe will be shorter. The chances for a town 
obtaining poor or imperfect work on Cement Pipe if done by contract are a little 
more than on cast iron. If you do your own work there can be no excuse for poor 
work. Plymouth, Mass., has several miles of cement pipe which has been in use 
thirty-eight years. 

There is virtue in each kind, with chances for better water from the cement. 
You are at liberty to call upon me for any further information that I can give you. 

C. L. Goodhue. 

Boston Water Works, Office Supt. Eastern Division. ) 
Boston, Mass., Jan. 25, 1890. J 

Wm. H. Miller, Esq.. Melrose Water Board. 

In reply to yours of the 24th iust., asking for my opinion in regard to the com- 
parative merits of Cast-Iron and Cement-Lined Water Pipes, I will say that I 
should not recommend the use of the Cement-Lined Pipes, and my reasons for that 
opinion are based upon my experience with both classes of pipe on the Boston 
works and upon my general knowledge of the experience of neighboring cities 
and towns which have used the Cement-Lined Pipes. 

The Mystic Works, constructed iii 1864 for the supply of Charlestown, were 
furnished with Wrought Iron Cement-Lined Pipes, and in 1876, twelve years after 
the pipes were laid, the number of breaks in the mains were one for each 0.45 
(about %) mile of pipe, while on the Cochituate works, laid with cast-iron pipe, the 
number of breaks were one for every 24.4 miles. We have been obliged to replace 
the entire distribution of Charlestown with cast-iron pipes. 

The cement-lined pipe was used in Somerville and Chelsea, and in both of 
those cities the pipes are now giving a great amount of trouble, and they are 
replacing the wrought-iron cement-lined pipes with coated cast-iron. 

As to the life of a cast-iron pipe, I can only say that the pipes laid in Boston in 
1848 are to-day (1889) in service, and to all appearances nearly as good as when 
first laid. When laid in marsh mud the cast-iron pipes decay rapidly ; but 111 good 
earth they will last at least fifty years, and I see no reason why not one hundred. 

As to the comparative cost, I have not had any experience. 

Dexter Brackett, Supt. Eastern Division. 



Office of Superintendent of Hingham Water Works, j 
Hingham, Feb. 3d, 1890. j" 

John R. Norton, Clerk of IVater Board, Melrose, Mass : 

Dear Sir : — As we are a private company and have no Commissioners, I 
take the liberty of answering your note. We have some 40 miles of cement pipe 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 723 



from 14 to 3 in., most of it laid in 1879 and 1880. Thus far we have had very little 
trouble from breaks and our water is very clear. Our pressure is about fifty 
pounds and we have a gravity supply. For a low pressure like ours I think 
cement pipe if honestly made and laid, is all right. Would not use it for a pump- 
ing system or where the pressure was over fifty or sixty pounds. 

There is very little difference in first cost or in repairs between cast-iron and 
cement pipe, when the latter is first-class. The extra care necessary in handling 
and laying cement pipe where it is carefully done, as it must be to insure good 
work, will offset the difference in cost of materials. So that the only recommen- 
dation for cement pipe is in its absolute freedom from corrosion and consequent 
purity of the water. This is the vital point in all water works, and with water 
that will readily attack iron there is no question of the superiority of cement lined 
pipe. Otherwise, and with high gravity or pumping pressure, I should say cast- 
iron every time. 

C. W. S. Seymour, Superintendent. 



Concord Water-works, Superintendent's Office. I 
Concord, N. H., February 3d, j8go, ( 

John R. Norton, Esq., Clerk of Water Board, Melrose, Mass. 

Dear Sir : I have your favor ot February 1st. Our works were built in 1872 
with cement-lined pipe, and we have but little trouble with it. Of late, we have 
used cast-iron for extensions. Were we to build our works anew now, I should 
use cast-iron. The difference in the price is not large. The iron costs more than 
the cement-lined, but I cannot give you the exact figures. Iron pipe has ad- 
vanced about $3.00 per ton, and cement-lined would advance some. Mr. C. L. 
Goodhue, of Springfield, Mass., will give you the figures lor cement-lined. 

John Kimball, President. 

Note. — Now refer to the report of Concord. 

Office of Percy M. Blake, Civil Engineer. ) 
Hyde Park, Mass., Dec. 5th, 1889. j 

Major IT. D. Fiske, Boston, Mass. 

I have been too busy to attend to that matter of comparative cost of piping 
about which you spoke to me. Let me know, if it is not too late, and I will try to 
have it looked up for you. I should say, to express it in a general way, that with 
the present price of cast-iron, the laying and furnishing of 4, 6 and 8-inch wrought- 
iron and cement-lined and covered pipe, and the furnishing and laying of the same 
size of cast-iron pipe, standard weight, could be contracted for at the same price. 
If, however, you are well equipped for the manufacture and laying of the cement- 
lined pipe, it is probable that this kind would cost ten and possibly fifteen per 
cent, less than standard cast-iron. Percy M. Blake. 



Manchester Water Works, Superintendent's Office. ) 
Manchester, N. H., Feb. 3, 1890. f 

Melrose Water Commissioners, Melrose, Mass. 

We have laid no cement pipe for thirteen years. We have laid over with cast- 
iron pipe this year about half a mile. Now we find in taking up the cement-lined 
that some portion of it is just as sound as it was sixteen years ago when it was 
laid. Other parts, the iron is all rusted out. This shows that it could be laid so 
as to last a long time. We have got to take ours out, that is, a large portion of it, 
on account of poor work, and we shall lay cast-iron in place of the cement. The 
cost of cement-lined I do not know about. The repairs on cast-iron are easier 
made, and it does not cost so much to repair it. I have always understood that 
you are satisfied with cement, and if so, why change it? 

Chas. K. Walker. 

Office of Watertown Water Supply Company, \ 
Watertown, Mass., Feb. 3, 1890. \ 

John R. Norton, Esq., Clerk of Water Board, Melrose, Mass. 

Your favor of the 1st received this forenoon. In reply would sa}\ regarding 
the merits of cement-lined pipe, there is no doubt in my mind but it is the best 



724 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



conductor of water ; the only trouble seems in getting a thorough job. "We have 
had a very favorable experience ; in fact, our mains have given us no trouble at 
all. Cast-iron will stand rough handling, and I do not think there is much differ- 
ence in cost at the present time. 

J. H. Perkins, Superintendent. 



Plymouth Water-Works, ) 

Plymouth, Mass., February 6th, 1890. / 
Board of Water Commissioners, Melrose, Mass. 

We can give you very little information in regard to cast-iron pipe, as since 
1854 we have used cement-lined wrought-iron almost exclusively. Our water is 
particularly destructive to cast-iron, and so use the other, as it has proved entirely 
satisfactory. Some four-inch cast-iron that we laid for a corporation a few years 
ago was taken up last year, and its capacity was reduced to a two-inch by the for- 
mation of rust inside. We have not dared to try the dipped cast-iron in any of our 
mains, although, no doubt, it would last longer than the undipped ; but how much, 
only time will tell. 

We laid quite a large quantity of cement pipe three years ago, when we put in 
another main from the pond to the town, and the prices were as follows, includ- 
ing pipe, trenching, back-filling, keeping road-bed in repair for a year, and set- 
ting gates and branches— gates to be supplied by the town. Per running foot : 
4-inch, .52. 12-inch, $1.35. 

6-inch, .72. 14-inch, 1.70. 

10-inch, $1.05. 16-inch, 1.90. 

In laying our own pipe, with higher labor the expense is a few cents per 
foot more. 

I suppose that you know that we are one of the few towns in this State which 
clings exclusively to cement, but our experience justifies it. Our works were 
originally laid in 1854, and that pipe is in use to-day, and when taken up is gen- 
erally in as good condition as when laid. When we laid the new main three 
years ago, we made two services— a high and a low, and the greater part of the 
old pipe was thrown on the high service. Of course, for a short time we had 
quite a number of leaks, as any weak places were shown at once, but the cost of 
repairing them is small and easily done. The average cost of repairing a leak for 
the last three years has been as follows : 

4-inch $ 6 53 

6-inch 12 07 

10-inch 12 74 

and this is higher than the average cost for a series of years would be, as it 
includes the time when the high service was put in. The cost of repairs to our 
street mains since 1882 has been as follows : This also includes removing obstruc- 
tions, of which there have been quite a number, as we have considerable two-inch 
pipe which was laid in the early history of the works. A large part of the leaks 
have occurred in the smaller pipe, as it is harder to make well than the larger 
sizes : 

1882 $159 00 

1883 16000 

1S84 2 4 2 °° 

1885 174 00 

18S6 232 00 

1887 3S5 00 

1888 592 00 

1889 261 00 

Total $2,20500 

In our opinion the whole question is whether the pipe is well made and well 
laid in the beginning. If it is, the pipe is cheap and durable and as cheap a pipe 
as can be put down and no danger of the full diameter being decreased by rust, 
etc. If the pipe is not well made, it is not worth a cent. This is the trouble with 
pipe laid in various places in Massachusetts. We have constant supervision of the 
making and laying of the pipe, and the result is satisfactory. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 725 



The above cost of repairs is from all causes. For instance, one year we had 
quite a length of pipe struck by lightning, and we have one or two places which 
are swampy and the pipe settles, but which will probably be remedied this year 
by laying the pipe around the swamp. 

Any further information that we can furnish * * * 

Charles S. Davis, Chairman. 



Natick:, Feb. 6, 1890. 
To Water Commissioners of Town of Melrose. 

Your letter of February 1 to Natick Water Board was handed to me for my 
opinion in regard to cement-lined mains. We have about twenty-five miles of 
that kind of pipe, from 4 to 12-inch, some of which has been laid 16 years. We 
have not had much trouble so far. As far as I can judge it is in good condition. 
Now and then we have a few joint leaks, and sometimes a burst or rotten pipe 
(perhaps two or three a year). This does not result through any fault of the pipe, 
but from careless work which can be remedied if you can secure honest workmen 
to take an interest in the work. Poor work will eventually tell, whether in cast- 
iron or cement-lined. No doubt the risk is greater in cement, as in making joints 
there is more chance for poor work. There is no doubt about the purity of cement 
pipe. It is always clean and the same size, without any obstruction. The reason 
why cement pipe is being discarded for iron pipe is not from any fault of the 
pipe, but in the workmanship ; not enough cement to light iron. In closing, I 
would say there is and always has been a doubt in my mind as to how large a pipe 
that is cement-lined can be laid with good results. Hoping you will give me your 

opinion in return about pipe, I remain, 

T. W. Morse, Superintendent. 

Chelsea, Mass., Feb. 6, 1890. 
Melrose Water Commissioners : 

Yours of Feb. 1st came to hand yesterday In answer to your questions, would 
say, that there are merits in the cement-lined water pipes. It is our judgment, 
however, that cast-iron pipe is most reliable, and in the long run the most 
economical. The first cost is in favor of the cement pipe, but in a very few years 
the difference of maintenance in favor of cast-iron will more than offset it. 

Water Commissioners, 

O. Lombard, Clerk. 

New Bedford, Mass., December 31, 1SS1. 
pp. 5. As the wrought-iron cement-lined main in Acushnet Avenue, from Union to 

Walnut Streets, is in a weak condition, it may be considered judicious to replace 
it with cast-iron pipe at an early day. 

pp. 9. Repairs to mains and services $1,549-65 

pp. 23. Your attention is again called to the weak condition of the wrought-iron 

cement-lined main on Acushnet Avenue from Union to Walnut. The removal of 
this section should be included in the work of the coming year. Eight-inch cast- 
iron pipe should be laid in its place. 



New Bedford, Mass., December 31, 1887. 
pp. 20. There is now in use upwards of g l / 3 miles of wrought-iron cement-lined pipe, 

all of which has now been in use for 18 years. Probably a large portion is still in 
good condition, but as it has been found very defective in many places it is fair to 
presume that there is a large number of weak spots not known, and from which a 
break may occur at almost any time. Unfortunately it is impossible to separate 
the location of the good from the bad. I would strongly urge that the condition of 
this pipe be taken under advisement and that steps be soon taken with the view 
of ultimately replacing all this pipe with that of cast-iron. 

pp. 41. TAKFN UP. 

4-inch Pipe 730 feet. 

6-inch Pipe 2,139 f eet. 

Total length removed in 1S87 2,869 feet - Cement Lined. 

112 feet of Cast Iron Pipe. 



726 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



New Bedford, Mass., December 29, 1889. 
pp. 4. 12,715 feet of main distribution pipe has been laid and 4,902 feet of that prev- 

iously laid has been removed, 
pp. 42. TAKEN UP. 

821 feet of 4-inch Cast Iron Pipe. 
2,161 feet of 6-inch Cast Iron Pipe. 
1,294 feet of 4-inch Cement Lined Pipe, and 
625 feet of 6-inch Cement Lined Pipe. 

4,901 feet — removed in 1890. 

Salem, Mass., December 20th, 1880. 
pp. 10. We have had but few bad breaks or leaks the past year. The worst was upon 

the twelve-inch pipe on North Street, and was caused by opening a hydrant on 
Dearborn Street, and one on Webb Street near Essex, caused by rust on the ten- 
inch pipe near the sewer, 
pp. 13. DISTRIBUTION PIPE. 

There has been some trouble with the pipe the past year, principally from 
rust and letting the water on to the hydrants at fires. 

In all cases of breaks the pipe has been found badly rusted, and there are 
doubtless many small leaks that have not shown on the surface as yet, but will if 
they get larger. 

There have been 29 leaks on the distribution pipe during the year, all of which 
have been promptly repaired 

pp. 20-21. LEAKS IN DISTRIBUTION REPAIRED. 

4-inch Pipe 3 pick-holes ; wound. 

4-inch Pipe 3 lengths rusted out ; new length. 

4-inch Joints 1 new length ; 1 wound. 

4-inch Plugs 1 blown out ; new one. 

4-inch Pipe 3 burst at fires ; new lengths. 

6-inch Pipe 6 joints rusted out ; wound. 

6-inch Pipe 8 lengths rusted out ; new lengths. 

6-inch Pipe 3 bursts at fires ; new lengths. 

6-inch Plugs . . 1 blown out ; new one. 

lo-inch Pipe 1 rusted out ; new length. 

12-inch Pipe 1 burst ; new length. 

Salem, Mass., December 19, 1890. 
pp. 3. Replacing cement pipe with iron pipes in 

East Gardner Street. 38, 130 00 

Palmer Street 1,870 00 

$10,000 00 

pp. 4. Weak points along the line of distribution pipes are showing up almost daily, 

and a renewal of our recommendation for ten thousand dollars per year, for cast- 
iron pipes in place of cement, in sections of the city requiring same, should be 
carefully considered by the city council, 
pp. 12. 446 feet of 6-inch cast iron pipe has been laid to take the place of cement pipe, 

and also 397 feet of 6-inch. Leaks on cement pipe have been more numerous than 
during previous years, increasing the maintenance according^'. 

pp. 17. LEAKS IN DISTRIBUTION, REPAIRED. 

4-inch pipe 14 bursts ; new lengths. 

4-inch pipe , 2 rust holes ; wound. 

4-inch pipe 5 joints ; Wound. 

4-inch pipe 1 plug blew off ; new one. 

6-inch pipe n bursts ; new lengths. 

6-inch pipe 1 rust hole ; wound. 

6-inch pipe 6 joints ; wound. 

6-inch pipe 1 split ; wound. 

8-inch pipe 2 joints ; wound. 

10-inch pipe 2 bursts ; new lengths 

10-inch pipe 2 joints ; wound. 

12-iuch pipe". 4 joints ; wound. 

16-inch pipe 1 joint ; wound. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 727 



Waterbury, Conn., December 31, 1886. 
pp. 7. Three breaks have occurred on the main line, which were promptly repaired, 

although at the cost of some inconvenience to the citizens. 

pp. j 2 . MAIN PIPE TAKEN UP AND DISCONTINUED. 

12-inch cement-lined pipe 1 i,443 feet. 

6-inch cement-lined pipe 163% " 

4-inch cement-lined pipe 2,i22ji " 

3-inch cement-lined pipe 7 1 

1 ^4-inch cement-lined pipe 488 

6-inch cast-iron pipe 45 

Total 4,333% feet. 

pp. 28. The following is the vote passed by the Court of the Common Council : 

" Voted, That the sum of $37,500x0 be and the same is hereby appropriated for the 

relaying of the water main from William Street to Beaver Pond Brook, and the 

Finance Committee is hereby empowered to make a loan for the above purpose 

• upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous to the city." 

PP- 33- i° pieces of 6" cement-lined pipe taken up, imperfect. 
150 pieces of 4" cement-lined pipe taken up, imperfect. 



Waterbury, Conn., December 31, 1890. 
pp. 6. Altogether about i 1 / miles of the old Cement Lined Pipes have been taken up 

and replaced with Cast Iron Pipes, leaving about 10% miles now in use. 
pp. 7. There have been thirty-three breaks on the Cement Lined Pipes, and six on 

the Cast Iron Pipes. One of these was caused by a stroke of lightning, which 

shattered the pipe for a distance of nearly five hundred feet. 

pp. I0 . MAIN PIPES TAKEN UP AND DISCONTINUED. 

4-inch Cement Lined Pipe 4,767% feet. 

6-inch Cement Lined Pipe 1,678% feet. 

4-inch Cast Iron Pipe 15% feet. 

Total 6,461% feet. 

pp. 28. The pumping was continued until October 14, when there were two breaks in 

the main pipe near Silver Street. During the repair of these breaks the whole 
supply of the city was from the Cooke Street Reservoir. 

pp. 32. The reason for recommending an issue of bonds for an amount in excess of 

the estimated cost of the reservoir and connections, is that there is now in use in 
the city over seventy thousand feet of Cement Lined Pipes, most of which have 
been in use for nearly twenty years, and must be replaced sooner or later. Some 
of this must be done the next season, and in all cases where the pipe will be sub- 
jected to higher pressure it must be done before making the connection. * * * 

PP- 45- 9 pieces Cement Lined Pipe taken up, imperfect. 3-inch. 

136 pieces Cement Lined Pipe taken up, imperfect. 4-inch. 

According to the foregoing reports no less than $126,038.31 has been 
expended for taking out and replacing cement-lined pipe. This amount is 
made up from the items specified in the various reports, and, as will be 
noticed, but few of the reports specify the amounts expended, but simply 
give the number of feet of pipe taken up and replaced by other pipe. I will 
not attempt to recapitulate the number of bursts, leaks, etc., that have 
occurred, as they are too numerous. You will notice that in the City of 
Baltimore alone there was 410 leaks on main pipes in 1S87 and 482 leaks on 

main pipes in 1890. 

A. J. Guilford. 



728 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Worcester, Mass., Abandons Cement-Lined Pipe. 

City of Worcester, Mass. — Annual report Water and Sewer Depart- 
ments. 

The present revenue of the department will, for the next four years, be 
entirely absorbed by the replacing of cement-lined pipe with cast-iron, and 
also the interest and sinking fund account. 

Condition of Cement Pipe. 
The twelve-inch low-service main line is in poor condition ; also the 
twenty-inch, eighteen-inch and sixteen-inch cement pipe between Hunt 
Reservoir and Montague street, a part of which should be abandoned and a 
line of twenty-inch cast-iron substituted therefor. The length of pipe laid 
during the past year in place of cement is 5 6/10 miles. The following 
recommendations are made : 

1. That a line of twenty -inch cast-iron pipe be laid in Leicester street, 
instead of the present low-service cement-lined pipe ; and 

2. That the policy of taking out the cement-lined pipe and replacing 
it with cast-iron pipe be continued until all is removed. — Fire and Water, 
January /j, 1894. 

The following is an extract from the report of W. H. Jack, 
Receiver of the Oak Grove & Sierra Verde Cattle Company : 

Silver City, N. M., January 5, 1893. 
National Tube Works Co. 

This ranch is supplied with water from Cherry Creek by 2-inch wrought- 
iron pipe, a distance of about two miles to head of Oak Grove canon. With 
this part of the line there is no trouble, but this connects at this point with 
a 2-inch cement-lined pipe, which is worse than worthless. I have had to 
uncover the cement-lined pipe about 1^ miles, tie it up with cloth and 
white lead, but it leaks so much that we are only able to water a few old 
cows and the horses. We had no water at the ranch for cooking purposes 
for two weeks by reason thereof. This is most unfortunate. 

(Signed) W. H. Jack, Receiver. 

The town of Beverly, Mass., will probably ask the State to assume its 
debt of $1,000,000, and this will create considerable discussion. The town 
some years ago laid out an extensive system of water works, the pipes of 
which consisted of iron, cement-lined. The outer covering of iron has 
rusted away in many places, so that the pipes are in need of constant re- 
pair. A part of the debt is the result of this water system. — Fire and 
Water, December 24th, 1892. 

The Abandonment of Cement Pipe for Water Mains, and the 
Durative Period of the Life of Cast-Iron Pipe so far as its 
Integrity as a Pipe is Concerned. 

The passing of cement pipe for water mains use seems to have been 
inaugurated by our New England water works officials. The annual re- 
ports of the water departments of Worcester, Mass., and Keene, N. H., 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 729 



show that the time has arrived in the judgment of their officials for the sub- 
stitution of cast-iron pipe in place of the sheet-iron cement-lined pipe, 
which perhaps has been more extensively used in water works construction 
in the New England States than in any other section of our country. It is 
well to be conservative and fair in our expressions of opinion concerning 
this class of pipe. * * * Its structural characteristics, however, are 
such as to forbid its employment for water main distribution requirements 
without impairing its life. * * * It obtained a strong foothold and came 
into general use during war times, when the price of iron practically pro- 
hibited the u°e of cast-iron pipe in many places. * * There are many 
lines of iron cement-lined pipe in use for conduit purposes and have been 
for many years, and their discharging capacities have in no sense, upon ex- 
amination, been discovered as impaired by accretions of any character. 
This cannot be said of cast-iron pipes used simply as conduits. The time 
may come in the experience of water works engineers and officials when 
more consideration will be paid to this important question of preserving the 
original cross-section of conduit and trunk mains. It is a vexed question to 
determine accurately how much loss of head is due to draught and to the 
yearly diminishing area of cross-section of water mains. We are now con- 
fronted with these problems, as evidenced by recent reports, prominent 
among them that of the Rochester water works. Its experience with cast- 
iron conduits proved conclusively a marked deterioration of delivering 
capacity in a few years, and to such an extent as to occasion serious concern 
to the chief engineer of the works. The durative period of the life of cast- 
iron pipe, so far as its integrity as a pipe is concerned, is not yet deter- 
mined. In so far as its delivering capacity is concerned from year to year, 
it is quite apparent that a marked deterioration does occur in the way of 
added accretions yearly. * * * English practice shows that methods 
adopted for clearing pipes of accretions have not proved satisfactory or 
permanent in character. The indifferent manner of coating the interior 
surface of pipes no doubt hastens the accumulations of tubercular de- 
posits.— Extracts from Editorial, Fire and Water, January /j, 1894. 



730 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



RIVETED PIPE. 

Extracts from a paper read by D. J. Russell Duncan, Assoc. 
M. Inst., C. E., M. Inst. M. E. Managing Director, of the Steel 
Pipe Company, Limited, Scotland, at the eleventh annual 
Convention of the American Water Works Association, Phila- 
delphia, April 14-17, l8 9 x - 

Riveted Steel Pipe. 

The application of steel in the construction of water pipes is of com- 
paratively recent date in Great Britain, and has developed a new and 
important industry, which seriously enters into competition with the old 
established methods of pipe founding. 

The old custom of employing cast-iron prevails to a great extent in 
Great Britain ; while America has for mau}^ years built pipes of wrought- 
iron and is now making occasional use of steel. * "* * Cast-iron pipes 
maintained their supremacy in Great Britain, because of the plentiful 
supply of metal, the simplicity of construction and the accessibility of the 
foundries. As each country naturally preferred the cheapest article the habit 
of specifying wrought-iron pipes in America and cast-iron pipes in Britain 
became general. The introduction of ' ' mild steel ' ' several years ago brought 
about a great change in the British iron trades resulting in the erection of 
several large works for its production. * * * 

Hydraulic engineers were, before the days of steel, in many cases 
io-norant of the strength of wrought-iron, and could not realize that a thin 
pipe of comparatively pure metal could be as strong and as durable as a thick 
pipe of cast-iron— an impure metal. 

Therefore, with prejudice and cost against the adoption of wrought-iron 
pipes in Britain, the old system of using cast-iron still prevailed, but in 
America financial considerations overruled prejudices and wrought-iron pipe 
was adopted. 

The example shown by America in the extensive use of wrought-iron 
pipes induced the writer, some ten years ago, to investigate the cause of the 
difference between American and British practice, and, believing that if pipes 
made of wrought-iron or steel could be produced in Britain at a less cost per 
unit of length than cast-iron pipes, the prejudice against such pipes could be 
overcome, careful study was given the subject and plans matured for pro- 
ducing plate pipes of large diameter with less riveting than in American 
practice. As this could only be effected by the strictest economy in weight 
of materials and labor, it became necessary to employ open hearth mill steel 
of the highest possible tensile strength. * * * Questions regarding resist- 
ance to collapse from external pressure sometimes arise. It, therefore, 
becomes important when laying down plans for water supply to know the 
depth at which the pipes will be laid, otherwise, large pipes, whether earthen- 
ware, cast-iron or steel, are liable — the two former — to fracture, the latter to 
collapse by bending, wherever the depth of the pipes under road level is 
insufficient to prevent the weight of heavy wagons bearing upou them. 



RIVETED PIPE. 731 



Whenever external pressure has to be considered, the best forms of steel 
pipes are short cylinders of welded pipes riveted together with butt joint and 
external cover strips, such strips occurring at intervals of 4 to 6 feet apart. 
The frequency of these cover strips adds considerably to the strength of the 
pipes, as the strips act as stiffening beams in resisting external pressure. 
Pipes laid at a depth of four diameters are not affected by surface loads, and 
the question of collapse need not, in such cases, be considered. This fact 
should be borne in mind. 

Generally, it may be taken as certain that wherever a cast-iron pipe one 
inch thick is safe, a steel pipe one-quarter of an inch thick is safer. In the 
one case the cast-iron will break and leak, but in the other only flattening 
or bending, without leakage occurs. 

Calculations for resistance to collapse are entirely different from those 
for resistance to internal pressures. No reliable formulas have yet been 
introduced for such calculations. The nearest approximation for general 
purposes is : Resistance to internal pressure equals 1.0 ; resistance to exter- 
nal pressure equals 0.4. 

Different Styles of Pipe Joints. 

The Converse Lock Joint is an excellent form, made of cast-iron collar 
with lead space at both ends, the collar having recesses into which project- 
ing rivet heads fixed on the ends of the pipes are inserted, and locked by 
moving the pipe through a small part of its circumference. * * * Numer- 
ous other forms of joints are necessary, according to circumstances. * * * 

The simplicity of all the joints referred to is an important matter in their 
favor. They can all be made by men ordinarily accustomed to laying cast- 
iron pipes, and are more easily handled, no complication of any kind, either 
regarding yarn packing, lead packing, leveling, calking, or finishing, ever 
being met with. 

The saving in cost of lead, laying, time and labor by using these joints, 
as compared with joints of cast-iron pipes, must be noted. If riveted steel 
pipes are used in twenty-four foot lengths, instead of cast-iron pipes in twelve 
foot lengths, it is obvious that there are only one-half the number of joints 
to make, and each joint uses only about 75 per cent, of the lead required 
for a cast-iron pipe joint. The mean diameter of the annular space for the 
lead is smaller than in cast-iron pipes, because the thickness of the steel in 
the pipe is less than the thickness of metal in the cast-iron pipes. * * * 
The risk of leakage is also reduced in consequence of the reduced number 
of joints. * * * The superiority of the coating for steel pipes — its 
smooth and glossy surface — increases the discharge of water, through 
welded, as compared with cast-iron pipes, because the friction is very 
greatly reduced ; but no advantage can be claimed for increased discharge 
through pipes which are riveted together with rivets whose heads project 
inside the pipes. The projecting heads obstruct the flow, even though 
carefully coated, and the advantage of smooth bore can only be claimed for 
welded pipes. * * * 

In laying pipe special attention should be given to leveling the spigot 
ends, because it saves a very great deal of time, and there is less risk of 
fracture or leakage ; whereas, when laying cast-iron pipes the greatest 
possible care must be taken to fit the pipes together in perfectly true lines, 



732 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



otherwise the strains set up in the joints by the leverage, due to the length 
of, or more pipes hanging upon the joint, frequently causes fracture at the 
joint. 

San Francisco, Cae., September 26th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

There is a great amount of preliminary work being done on large irri- 
gating schemes in all parts of California, almost every county having some 
project in view to develop the water supply or to lay out an irrigation dis- 
trict. For the conveying of large quantities of water, ditches and flumes 
are mostly adopted, but as previously stated for conveying the water to the 
sub-divisions of land, riveted pipe is sometimes used. This class of pipe, 
however, as now made and laid under fierce competition is not entirely satis- 
factory. 

Only yesterday, the writer saw several truck loads of 12-inch riveted 
pipe returned to one of the best manufacturers on this coast. The pipe was 
put in a system near this city, and leaked so badly that they could not get 
it tight. The company had men working on it for weeks trying to stop 
the leaks which were so bad that the ditch would fill completely with water 
during the night. This pipe has been taken up and returned to the manu- 
facturer, and at present writing, there is a force of men at work on it with 
steel brushes cleaning off the mud that it may be re-dipped and re-placed in 
the ditch, but you can readily understand what a delicate factor of safety 
there remains to depend upon to prevent leakage. 

This is the second contract with which the company has already expe- 
rienced similar trouble. 

The above is a detailed explanation of a case well known to us, and we 
give it in substantiation of our claim that riveted pipe as now made under 
close competition is not satisfactory. 

(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co. 



Leaks in Cast and Wrought-Iron Riveted pipe Conduits. 

Records of leaks in the long conduit of the water works of Rochester, 
N. Y., have been kept for many years and are summarized by months in 
the last annual report of Chief Engineer Kuichling, Mem. Am. Soc. C. E. 
This conduit leads from Hemlock Lake to the Rush reservoir and has a 
total length of 19.4 miles. The number of leaks by months for the periods 
named below are as follows, the record on the first part of the conduit being 
for a longer period than the last part : 

In 2.978 Miles (15,723 Ft.) of Wrought-Iron Riveted, and 
6.775 Miees (35,372 Ft.) of Cast-Iron Conduit. 



Months. 


a 

03 
1—1 


J3 
V 


0! 

a 

6 



< 

9 


9 




ai 

a 
3 

30 
4 
34 


1—1 


bo 

3 
< 

16 
6 

22 


■*-j 


tJ 
O 


> 

O 







H 
O 


Jan. 1, '80, to Jan. i, '91 
Jan. 1, '91, to Jan. 1, '92 


8 

1 


4 
2 


22 
2 
24 


42 
10 


25 
O 

25 


II 

II 


6 

6 


7 

1 
8 


186 
26 


Total 


9 


6 


6 


52 


212 







RIVETED PIPE. 



733 



In 9.617 Miles (50,776 Ft.) of 36-lNCH Wrought-Iron Conduit. 



Months. 


S3 
1—1 


,0 

V 


u 




ctf 


0) 

a 
>— > 


>> 
1—1 


3 


0. 
t/5 


O 


>* 




u 
Q 


en 
O 


Dec. 10, '77to Jan. 1, '91 
Jan. 1, '91, to Jan. 1, '92 


4 



5 
7 


7 
1 

8 


44 
11 


77 
5 

S2 


98 

17 

"5 


112 

21 
133 


71 

6 

77 


84 

7 
9i 


39 
9 

48 


13 
9 


4 

9 
13 


55S 
97 


Total 


4 


55 


22 


655 





The flow of water through the conduit during the year remained quite 
constantly at about 7,000,000 gallons per day. The conduit was put in 
operation about the date of the first records of leak, or at least within a 
year of that date.— Engineering News, December 1, /8g2. 

Total number of leaks recorded in this conduit composed of 
66,499 feet of wrought-iron riveted pipe and 35,372 feet of cast- 
iron pipe appears to be eight hundred and sixty-seven. We 
leave the reader to draw his own conclusions as to whether or 
not the wrought-iron riveted pipe is what its manufacturers 
would have you believe it to be. 

Burst Riveted Steee Water Mains. 

The failure of a riveted steel water main is described in the annual re- 
port of the "Steam Users' Association," of Manchester, England. The 
pipe was twenty-six inches in diameter, and made of ^-inch plate, riveted 
in 10-foot lengths with a straight longitudinal butt joint having an external 
strap. The rivets were i T 8 g-inch in diameter and pitched 1% inches. The 
bursting pressure was calculated at 1,200 pounds, but several of the lengths 
gave way at 70 pounds or less. When the fracture took place, the rent 
started at the rivet holes on one side then sprang across to the rivet holes 
on the other side, and so on, running from side to side until it extended the 
entire length of the pipe. The Chief Engineer of the Association states that 
the fracture was due to the use of flat steel rolled bars for butt-straps, in 
which the rivet holes had been punched instead of drilled. The straps were 
4>2 inches wide and f\ inch thick. The punching injured their 
strength and caused several small flaws or cracks, some of which were 
detected after the accident. Moreover, some of the straps were hard and 
brittle, and it was found that they had been improperly annealed. — En- 
gineering Record, August 19th, i8gj. 



RIVETED WATER PIPE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
By Haroed Jeans, A. R. S. M., Boston, Mass. 
(Bessemer Medallist of the Royal School of Mines.) 
Among the many new uses that are now being found for steel as a 
material of construction, its employment in the United States for water dis- 
tribution in the form of riveted pipe promised to be of no inconsiderable 



734 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



iinportauce, not however from the mere tonnage of soft steel plates con- 
sumed, but as marking a new epoch in that important part of municipal 
engineering dealing Avith water supply. 

The word "new" is used relatively, because riveted pipe for water 
mains is by no means a new thing ; it has been very largely used for irriga- 
tion purposes in the Western States, and also to some extent in town supply, 
for force mains and other purposes, but its use has increased so largely of 
late in municipal work that we are probably justified in regarding it as more 
or less of a new departure. 

Cast-iron is one of the most unsatisfactory materials for the engineer to 
employ, when he can economically and satisfactorily avoid it, and as a 
natural consequence it has gradually given place to steel. It has, however, 
pretty well held its ground for water pipe, not because it is peculiarly 
adapted for use in that form, but because of a doubt in the minds of many 
engineers as to the advantages of steel for replacing it. The experience 
gained with wrought-iron pipe for irrigation purposes in the West practically 
affords no criterion of its value in town water supply : the conditions 
are almost entirely different, for not only has it been laid on top of the 
ground, making it accessible for painting and inspection, but it has no 
external pressures to stand, and is, moreover, generally made of very thin 
steel plate. The old custom, therefore, of employing cast-iron water pipe 
has continued to find favor both in England and America, but to an even 
greater extent in the former country than in the latter. At present, how- 
ever, matters are changing in America. The price of steel has reached such 
an unprecedently low level, that great economies can be effected in its use in 
the place of cast-iron pipe, and this fact, combined with a better knowledge 
of the properties of steel among city engineers, has paved the way to its 
more general introduction. These are, however, not the only reasons for 
the change, nor do 'they entirely explain why it has come to pass that 
during the past few months a number of cities and towns have called for 
tenders on, and have contracted to use riveted steel pipe. The fact is that a 
combination of causes has assisted to bring riveted pipe to the front, and it 
will probably be of some interest to examine them. 

The wrought-iron pipe so largely used in America has been generally 
built of a number of small plates in one course, requiring a number of 
riveted and^ calked seams and a consequent difficulty of securing a water- 
tight line. The later use of mild steel has permitted the use of larger 
plates, so that now a piece of pipe will be made of but one plate, and requir- 
ing only one longitudinal seam. The great obstacles of the number of seams 
and the cost of making them being done away with by the use of steel, the 
next trouble to be encountered was a doubt as to the durability of the pipe, 
and it may here be remarked that no doubts ever existed as to the 
reliability or strength of the steel itself. Mild or soft steel received from 
American engineers a tolerably early recognition of its merits, as compared 
with wrought-iron, which in the lapse of time has been more than justified. 
The doubt as to the durability was not therefore upon this score, but upon 
the probability of rapid corrosion. Steel corrodes less rapidly than cast-iron, 
but a steel pipe is less than one-quarter the thickness of a cast-iron pipe of 
the same strength. It is therefore desirable, indeed essential, to the success- 
ful use of steel pipe that some preservative coating of unquestioned merit 



RIVETED PIPE. 735 



shall be applied. Galvanized pipe has been used, but asphalt or tar coatings 
are most common. All have proved, however, more or less unsatis- 
factory. The newest preservative, and one that, promises to settle 
this difficult question, is a japan, or baked coating, to which reference 
will be made later. Another advantage of the use of steel pipe is in 
the smooth and glassy nature of the coating, which increases the dis- 
charge of water. No advantage in this respect can be claimed for riveted 
pipe, as the rivet heads form an obstruction of a countervailing charac- 
ter, but in welded pipes the advantage is well marked. As regards the 
resistance to collapse from external pressure, it must be remembered 
that at a depth of four diameters, the pipe ceases to be affected by sur- 
face loads, so that this question is not all-important. Should, however, 
the depth be such that heavily laden wagons bear upon the pipe, fracture 
may occur in the case of cast-iron, while, in the case of steel, merely 
a flattening or bending without leakage occurs. Again, the form of the 
steel pipe can be easily adapted to stand pressure when necessary, by 
using butt joints, with circular cover strips, instead of the usual lap tele- 
scopic joint. The cover strips act as stiffeners, and by using a short length 
of pipe a greatly increased resistance can be obtained. Cast-iron is at the 
best a fragile material to handle and offers many difficulties in transporta- 
tion, besides which the greatest care has to be taken to fit it together in 
perfectly true lines, otherwise the stresses induced by leverage at the joints 
are apt to cause fracture. It is also likely to vary considerably in thickness 
in the barrel, and may not be in the form of a true cylinder. These diffi- 
culties are not met with in steel pipe, and no complication arises in laying 
it. The simplicity of the field joints cannot be excelled, in addition to 
which there are less of them, as riveted pipe can be made in lengths up to 
40 ft., against say 12-ft. lengths in cast-iron. 

As to the proper quality of the steel for use in riveted pipe, there are 
naturally some slight differences of opinion. It is better, however, to use 
the softest grade obtainable. The steel used has varied anywhere from 
52,000 to 75,000 lbs per square in. tensile strength ; but as pipe work, in 
the same way as boiler work, requires the steel to stand a good deal of 
rough treatment, and, as the rivet holes are invariably punched, it is un- 
doubtedly better to use a soft grade of steel with a low phosphorus content. 
A good chemical limitation is 0.6 per cent, of phosphorus and 0.5 per cent, 
of sulphur, with physical requirements of say 52,000 to to 60,000 lbs. per 
square in. tensile strength, an elastic limit per square in. of 30,000 lbs., 
with an elongation of 25 per cent, in 8 ins. The factor of safety used has 
been in some cases notoriously small. Cases are on record where the factor 
of safety has been as low as two, but this has generally occurred on pipe 
used for irrigation purposes. The usual practice has allowed a factor of 
safety of about five. Frequently, however, the mere water pressure is not the 
only item in calculating the thickness of the plates to be used. Questions 
of external pressures arise, and often the thickness must be increased to 
resist corrosion and to provide stability. — The Engineering Review, Lon- 
don, May 20th, i8gj. 



736 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



SPIRAL-WELD PIPE. 

San Francisco, Cai,., Jan. 14th, 1892. 
E. C. Converse, Gen. Mgr., National Tube Works Co., New York, N. Y. 

The spiral-weld people have been making strenuous efforts to invade 
this territory with their pipe. In the many instances in which we have 
encountered them, however, there has been only two cases in which we 
have failed to drive them from the field. These are Ashland and Seattle. 

The Ashland, Oregon, failure was due to disloyalty of John Barrett Co. 
The writer went over the ground with Mr. O'Connor, Engineer and Repre- 
sentative of the John Barrett Co., and Mr. O'Connor fully agreed with the 
writer that the funds voted were sufficient to permit of a system of Converse 
Joint Pipe. In making out his specification, however, he specified spiral- 
weld for a large portion, and made the excuses that the funds were not 
sufficient for Converse Joint Pipe. 3,600 feet of spiral-weld was laid, but on 
September nth Mr. Eddings, Hardware Merchant at Ashland, in a good 
position to know what had been done, stated to Mr. Brooks that after the 
water was turned on it was found necessary to dig down to every joint of 
the spiral -weld pipe and calk it with cold lead. He also stated that the 
John Barrett Company withheld $1,600 from the agents of the spiral-weld 
pipe for repairs to leaks. 

Mr. Brooks went over the ground at Ashland again after the works 
were in operation and saw pieces of spiral weld which had burst open at the 
weld. These pieces had the appearance of having been braized to remedy 
original imperfect welding. We also notice that in order to keep down the 
cost of material, they are obliged to adhere to very thin gauge. This not 
only renders it impossible to make satisfactory service connections, but it 
also renders it impossible to calk the joints with lead. The method of 
joining lengths with special castings appears to be very unsatisfactory. 
Owing to the thinness of the metal they are unable to calk under the 
casting. 

At Seattle, Wash., they resorted to an ancient joint known as the rust- 
joint. This, as you are aware, is formed by a chemical process, Cast-iron 
borings are mixed into a paste with a solution of salammoniac, and this 
paste is inserted around the joints and quickly forms a rust. This joint, of 
course, is primitive and unsatisfactory. The rust is soft, and where accessi- 
ble, it can easily be removed with an ordinary penknife. We should judge 
that this joint would not withstand much pressure. You can also readily 
understand that if it becomes necessary to cut a length of the pipe, it is a 
difficult and inconvenient joint to apply. As previously reported, the weld- 
ing of this pipe (from the samples in our office) is evidently very imperfect. 
It is true these people claim that they have since greatly improved in this 
respect, but of the validity of this claim we have serious doubts ; also, that 
the pipe is so frail that it is liable to injury in transportation ; the weight of 
the top layers is apt to crush in the lower layers of pipe, and where the hubs 



SPIRAL-WELD PIPE. 737 



have chafed against adjacent lengths of pipe, they frequently cut clean 
through the pipe. The spiral weld pipe is so devoid of practical merit that 
it will not bear careful investigation, and we have no fear that it will at any 
time receive consideration in competition with Converse Joint Pipe, except 
in cases of poverty. It is even then usually easy to show that the use of the 
spiral weld pipe is false economy, but of course, where the funds are lacking, 
this argument may perhaps not receive proper consideration. This is the 
only basis, in our opinion, on which spiral weld pipe can give us any 
trouble whatever. We have no definite knowledge of the prices of this pipe, 
but so far as we can learn, we believe it to be higher per pound than the 
Converse Joint Kalamein Pipe, and it is, therefore, cheaper per foot onty by 
reason of its flimsy character. Your instructions as to Seattle practically 
bound us hand and foot, and we, therefore, had nothing to do but to look on 
and see the Spiral Weld people get in their pipe. 

Order No. i, for 1891, for 3,200 feet of 5-inch and 4,000 feet of 3-inch 
Converse Joint Pipe was taken as against spiral weld. The spiral weld 
people had the field all to themselves at the time we first heard of this en- 
terprise ; however, we had samples of the spiral weld pipe in our office, and 
the people interested called and examined the two classes of pipe side by 
side, and no argument was necessary to convince them of the superiority of 
the Converse Joint Pipe. We learn that the prices quoted on the 6-inch 
spiral weld in this case was fifty cents per foot laid down in San Francisco. 
They, however, make different weights — standard, heavy and extra heavy. 
But we were unable to learn the weight of the pipe on which they quoted. 
Should anything further come up we will report to you. 

(Signed) Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co. 

per B. 

See letter on page 19, from Ashland, Oregon, of October 
29th, 1892, in reply to our letter of October 19th, 1892, wherein 
Ira C. Dodge, Supt. Water Works, says : " If we had used 
more of the Kalamein pipe our city would have been better 

off." 



Anaconda, Mont., March 16th, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

In regard to the spiral weld steel pipe furnished for the Anaconda 
Montana, water works, I would report that a careful examination of this 
case by myself, and interview with the Superintendent and managers of 
the water department at Anaconda, reveals the following facts : 

That in the first plant supplied by us there was used a 6-inch Converse 
Joint supply pipe leading from the reservoir to the city, through which the 
entire city supply had to come. In the course of a few years the capacity 
of this pipe became too small, and it became necessary to lay a new line. 
We were asked to make price on a 10-inch line, which we did, but owing 
to the extreme cheap price made by the Spiral Weld Pipe Company, the 
order was placed with them, and the pipe delivered and placed in position. 
The Superintendent of the works informs me that it has cost, and did cost, 



738 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



more to get the spiral weld pipe line tight so that it could be used at all 
than the entire first cost of laying and connecting the same. In other 
words, after the spiral weld pipe was laid in position, and supposed to be 
in condition to operate, it was found that it leaked, and had bursted so 
badly that in order to repair it and put it in operating condition the expense 
incurred was greater than the original cost. 

I was shown samples of this spiral weld pipe which, apparently, had 
been soldered together at points where the weld had been found to be 
defective. This method of repairing was used by the manufacturers of the 
pipe, and when the pressure was let into the line these places simply 
opened up and the pipe rendered useless, and those places necessarily had 
to be cut out and replaced with new pipe. 

I was informed by the authorities that they had had a very sad experi- 
ence with the spiral weld pipe, and would not use any more of it. 

They have found it very difficult to calk the joints on account of the 
extreme thinness of the shell, the slightest extra calking denting and 
crushing the pipe in so badly that it is next to impossible to make it 
tight. 

(Signed) H. F. KEENER. 



St. Louis, Mo., April 14th, 1892. 
Chas. A. Lamb, Esq., New York. 

I have your telegram of this date asking for information about spiral 
welded pipe, and, in accordance with your request, I beg to submit the fol- 
lowing facts : 

April 1st, 1889, I became associated with W. R. Hart & Co., Philadel- 
phia. Shortly thereafter that firm made an arrangement with the Spiral 
Weld Tube Co. to represent their product in the territory west of the Missouri 
River. From the very out-start the business was exceedingly unsatisfactory, 
for the following reasons : 

First. — Their inability, owing to slow and uncertain process of man- 
ufacture, to turn out any considerable quantity within a reasonable time. I 
do not recollect a single instance where a promise for delivery was fulfilled, 
and in one or two cases the delay in delivery was the cause of such serious 
damage to our customers that law suits for heavy damages were threatened, 
and I had the greatest difficulty in settling same. In other words, I found 
that no dependence whatever could be placed on contracts as to time of 
delivery. 

Second. — In every instance where I sold pipe it proved unsatisfactory, 
owing to alleged defects, large claims ensuing. I do not recollect of a single 
bill of any considerable amount having been settled on its original face. 
For instance, I sold a considerable quantity for Anacortes, Wash. ( Oregon 
Improvement Co.) There was a delay in delivery of the pipe beyond the 
time promised on the part of the Spiral Weld Tube Co. of over six months, 
and when the pipe was finally delivered and laid in the trenches and water 
turned on, some eighty-five per cent, of the joints leaked at the hub or 
spigot ends, clearly a defect in the manufacture, as the hub and spigot ends 
were attached at the mill before shipment. Then, too, there was consider- 
able trouble owing to defective welds. 



SPIRAL-WELD PIPE. 739 



Ashland, Oregon, was another point. The delay in delivery of this 
pipe was something like six months beyond the delivery promised, and the 
result after the pipe was delivered and laid in the trenches was about the 
same as at Anacortes. 

McMinnisville, Oregon, was another point where the same results were 
experienced as in the two foregoing cases, except, perhaps, more trouble 
was experienced in defective welding, the welds opening under a pressure 
of seventy-five pounds. 

A considerable quantity was also supplied the City of Seattle, where the 
delivery was a little more prompt, with a result which I can best describe 
by giving you an extract from General Manager Converse's circular-letter 
No. 676, dated June nth, 1891, Seattle, Wash. 

Since some of the spiral welded pipe was put in, owing to low first cost, 
we have secured numerous small orders, mostly for 4-inch Converse pipe in 
quantities ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 feet. The Seattle water works people 
are having lots of trouble with the spiral weld pipe. In order to draw out 
an unbiased opinion on this subject, a friend of ours at Walla Walla tel- 
egraphed to Superintendent W. T. Chalk, of the Seattle Water Co., and the 
latter wired back as follows : 

To G. H. Sutherland, Walla Walla, Wash.: We use it 011 the water front under the 
dock. Have put some under the ground. Gives us trouble all the time. The principle is 
good if properly welded. Could not recommend it unless of equal weight of Kalamein, 
galvanized and dipped. If you are buying any quantity, it will pay you to come here and 
see the whole thing and different pipe and tests. 

(Signed; W. T. Chalk. 



In the early part of 1890, 1 sold to a firm in San Francisco two car-loads 
of assorted sizes of Spiral Weld Pipe. I learned from one of them a few 
days ago that they still have this pipe on hand, despite their most active 
efforts to sell it, and I know they are hustlers from the word go, and sold 
for me the pipe for the places named in this letter. 

Port Angeles, Wash., is another place, I happen to recollect, where con- 
siderable quantity was sold, which proved, as in the other instances, emi- 
nently unsatisfactory to the buyers. 

Considerable quantities were disposed of in a small way with varying 
results, but I cannot recollect of a single instance where a party ordered a 
second time. 

To conclude, the business was so unsatisfactory, causing an endless 
amount of vexation and trouble, both to customers and myself, that I sur- 
rendered the agreement in September, 1890, and abandoned the business. 

I cannot inform you as to the price the S. W. T. Co. would now ask for 
90 miles of 8-inch. 

It would grieve me exceedingly to have any friends of mine buy this 
pipe for a water-works plant, as I know it would be the cause of endless 
vexation and trouble. On the other hand, I think, perhaps, I would recom- 
mend its use to a bitter enemy. 

Trusting this communication may be of service to you, I am, 

(Signed) Edward W. CoiT. 



740 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



St. Louis, Mo., April 15th, 1892. 
Oias. A. Lamb, Esq., New York. 

Following rny letter of yesterday, in regard to Spiral Weld Pipe : The 
Company makes four grades known as "Light Spiral Welded Pipe," 
" Standard Spiral Welded Pipe," " Heavy Spiral Welded Pipe," and " Extra 
Heavy Spiral Welded Pipe." " Standard Spiral Welded Pipe " is the only 
product I ever handled. 

They do not make light spiral welded pipe of less diameter than 12 
inch. 

The Self-Locking Sleeve Socket is a new device, and I am not familiar 
with it. When I handled the product hub and spigot ends was the only 
practical joint they had for connecting the pipe together where used for 
water conveyance. 

If I were asked for a professional opinion in regard to the merits of 
spiral weld pipe I should unhesitatingly say that for use in conveyance of 
water under pressure, or for use as distributing mains for water through the 
streets of cities, I consider it absolutely worthless. At the same time it 
might answer a very good purpose for the conveyance of water under little 
or no pressure. 

The material from which it is made is steel (which, I believe, is sup- 
plied by the Riverside Iron Works). The nature of this material, together 
with its uncertain process of manufacture, in my opinion, makes sound 
welding very uncertain. The pipe may last for a time, but sooner or later, 
where there is any considerable pressure, the welds will be sure to open in 
one place or another. 

(Signed) Edward W. CoiT. 



Notwithstanding the following flattering announcement of 
the failure of the Spiral Weld Tube Co. we predict that the 
company will not resume business, and that it is not at all 
probable that a reorganization will be effected. An earnest 
effort will, however, very likely be made by the stockholders in 
that direction. The ingenuity and real mechanical excellence 
of the product will not warrant the investment of further capi- 
tal in the enterprise. Parties looking for an investment will, 
no doubt, be pleased to note that the company's assets are 
ample to meet its liabilities, and the only losers will be the 
stockholders. 

The announcement that the Spiral Weld Tube Co. has been placed in 
the hands of receivers will be received with general regret, since the process 
developed by the Company was one of such ingenuity and real mechanical 
excellence that those who invested in the company deserved to reap a fair 
return. It is not the first enterprise of merit, however, which has not re- 
warded its owners at first. The reason for the company's failure are : 

First, the great amount of capital which has been sunk in experimental 
work and in developing the plant and process to its present stage. 

Secondly. — The sending out of some imperfect pipe in the early history 



SPIRAL-WELD PIPE. 741 



of the company, the defects of which have injured the reputation of the pipe 
in the West, where the principal market for it was found. 

Thirdly. — The great reduction in the price of cast-iron pipe which, 
four years ago, was selling at $30 to $35 per ton, and can now be bought at 
$20 to $25 per ton, or even less. The company's assets are ample to meet its 
liabilities, and the only losers will be the stockholders. It is probable that 
a reorganization will be effected and that the company will resume business 
on a more solid financial basis. It is to be hoped that this may be the case, 
for it would be a pity to have an industry, on the perfection of which so 
much time and money have been spent, totally abandoned. — Engineering 
News and American Railway Journal, May 19, 1892. 



New York, June 13, 1892. 
National Tube Works Co. 

When in England I learned that agents or representatives of this com- 
pany were endeavoring to get English capital as a basis of reorganization, 
and while at Messrs. L,loyd & Lloyd's, Birmingham, I saw a sample of spiral 
weld pipe which had been sent there to be electrically heated and welded in- 
asmuch as it was very defective. 

I also learned that application had been made for the United States 
rights for the Bunardo's process for electric heating and welding. 

I also saw a letter which was written by the gentleman who succeeded 
Mr. J. C. Bayles, president. It will not be proper for you to make any use 
of this confidence imposed in me, but for your eyes only I desire to say that 
this letter was the greatest production I have ever seen. It reported the 
collapse of the Spiral Weld Company, and gave the reasons for it. The 
gentleman touched upon mismanagement which had occurred before he 
took hold, and stated that immediately after he assumed charge the Board 
of Directors made the discovery that it was not prudent to ship any more 
pipe unless it was good pipe. In other words, the letter indicated that they 
had shipped everything which had gone through the machine, irrespective 
of quality. 

Since my return to New York, I have been informed that it is under- 
stood that the Spiral Weld Company has succumbed to the inevitable. In 
this connection I will state, in reference to the complaints of the Waukesha 
Hygeia Mineral Springs Company, who put some of the conduit in a line to 
pipe their water to Chicago, that, thinking we did not care to bid on the 
pipe line, the parties in charge of this matter went East to get their con- 
tracts all signed up with the Spiral Weld Company. Bonds were prepared, 
and everything was in shape. 20 miles of pipe were purchased, and most of 
it had been shipped before I arrived in New York. Subsequently, tests were 
made of this pipe, and it was found that it was not up to the perfection and 
conditions guaranteed in the contract, and the entire lot of pipe was conse- 
quently rejected. 

This circumstance, which proved the unreliability of spiral weld pipe as 
a factor in engineering plans of importance, doubtless precipitated the failure 
of the Spiral Weld Company. 

(Signed) E. C. Converse, General Manager. 



742 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



The predictions we have made from time to time that the 
spiral welded steel pipe has not the least merit, and that its 
manufacturers would soon succumb, are fully verified by the 
following advertisement, which appeared in the Engineering 
News and American Railway Journal of November 17th, 1892 : 

PIPE FACTORY FOR SALE. 
A Rare Business Opportunity. 

Under an order of the Court of Chancer}', of the State of New Jersey, 
dated the 14th day of June, 1892, the undersigned offer for sale all the real 
and personal property of the Spiral Weld Tube Company, now in their 
hands, as Receivers, comprising : 

Six acres of valuable land on the line of the Montclair Branch of D., L. 
& W. R. R., near Roseville Station, in the township of Fast Orange ; the 
modern brick and frame mill and office buildings, gas plant, track and 
switches on said land, together with a complete equipment of machinery, 
shafting, engines, gas compressors, blowers and shop tools, all in good 
working order. 

The personal property consists of spirally-welded steel pressure tubes of 
various sizes, steel skelp, cast scrap and new shop and mill supplies. 

In addition to the above, will be sold all the right, title and interest of 
the Spiral Weld Tube Company in and to the several patents covering the 
manufacture and sale of spirally-welded tubes and fittings. 

The property may be inspected at any time during working hours. 
Full particulars upon application. 

James L. Hays, ) Receivers 

Thos. M. Williamson, \ Kecelvers - 
East Orange, N. J. 

The concern went into the hands of Receivers about May, 
1892, and, finding there was no market for the goods, the plant 
was offered for sale. 



WOOD PIPE. 743 



WOOD PIPE. 



The very inconsiderable amount of wood pipe which is now 
in use renders it unnecessary for us to give information covering 
its weaknesses, for it is now seldom, if ever, encountered in com- 
petition, and these same remarks also apply to cement-lined pipe. 
We simply reproduce the following illustration and report, as a 
matter of interest : 

In a recent report on the destruction of pine staves in the clear water 
pipe of the Ottawa water works system, and of oak slats in a rack through 
which the water passes before entering the turbines, James Fletcher gives 
the following particulars : 

The condition of these specimens is, briefly, as follows , The wood of 
the pipe staves is almost uniformly one inch and a half in thickness, in a few 
places possibly one-eighth of an inch less, and perhaps a little thicker where 
knots occur. At the original point of contact, where the staves touched on 
each side those next to them, the edges, particularly of the inner surface of 
the pipe (but also to a much less extent of the outside as well), are much 
eroded between the staves for some distance towards the exterior of the 
pipe, causing a deep groove, varying between one quarter and three-quarters 
of an inch across at its greatest width. In depth, this groove varies in most 
places between one-quarter of an inch and one inch ; but at many points it 
has extended right through the wood to the outside, causing large holes from 
four to six inches in length, by one wide, thus entirely defeating the ends 
for which this pipe was originally intended. 

If these staves were, as stated, two inches in thickness when put down 
it is evident that by some means about half an inch of the wood has been 
removed during the fifteen years which have elapsed since the pipe was 
laid down in the aqueduct. 

In answer to your inquiry as to the probable cause of this diminution 
in the substance of the pipe and the probability of its being due to the op- 
erations of aquatic insects, I take the liberty of drawing your attention to 
the following points : 

The condition of the wood of the staves is as follows : The wood itself 
below the surface and between the staves where these were in close con- 
tact, is perfectly sound, of good color, and not injured in any way. On the 
other hand, all surfaces which have been exposed to the action of the water, 
whether inside or outside the pipe or in the grooves eroded between the 
staves, are discolored and in a semi decayed condition — i. e., the wood is so 
soft and rotten that it can be easily removed with the finger nail to a depth 
of at least one-sixteenth of an inch. In and upon this thin layer of half 
decayed wood the larva? of various kinds of aquatic insects have taken up 
their abode, and some have made use of it as food, as is plainly seen by the 



744 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



numerous tracks which have been eaten out all over the surface. These 
tracks are irregular and winding in their course, going in all directions, as 
often across the grain of the wood as with it. They do not penetrate the 
solid wood, but frequently reach down to it and run along on the surface. 
The same track sometimes runs in one direction and then doubles back on 
itself and runs the other way, a fact which entirely disproves the sugges- 
tions which have been offered by some that the whole of the injuries to the 
pipe, as well as these tracks, are the effects of friction, current or suction. 
One particular track was observed to start on the inside of the water pipe 

OTTAWA WA TE/i WORKS 

SKETCH SMOW/A/G DETECTS IN WOOD STAVES OF CL£Afi WAT£fi ?/P£ 




ELEVATIOM Of STAVE 
^7- oAouAs tracts nimUttg auer £ke sitr/acr- of wood 'art<t ^cususl cutd across tfafrain. 
-"9- Shouts <»» rCts^oZora/^on/ ay th^ *voo</ ir-x/vitd &u> ctcltud '/mint o/eix>sion /UcUn& <*Uc £> W'frr a^Mor, 




Wood Stave Pipe. 



and work its way through one of the large holes out on to the outside sur- 
face. It is a notable fact that these tracks run over the whole surface of the 
wood, even to the bottom of every little depression. I believe that the soft- 
ened condition of the surface of the wood is due to the action of the river 
water, and I find that in some places, where the eroded groove stretches out 
in points from the inside towards the outer surface of the pipe, there is gen- 
erally a discoloration of the wood beyond the point where the surface is 
actually eaten away, as if decay had already begun, although the tissues of 
the wood are still unbroken, but showing plainly that the water had effected 
an entrance between these discolored surfaces. It is generally perceptible 
that there is in such spots a slight inequality of the exposed surfaces of the 
two contiguous staves, which may have been caused either by some slight 
uneveuness in the planing of the wood at the time of building the pipe, 



WOOD PIPE. 745 



or possibly from the wood having swollen unequally when it was placed in 
the water. 

I am informed that at the time the pipe was constructed the edges 
of the staves were flush, both inside and outside this pipe, which was 
built like a barrel, with the staves slightly beveled at the edges, so as 
to procure the tubular shape, and that the whole was held together by 
strong iron hoops. This being the case I can only suggest as a reason for 
the eroded groove being so much wider and deeper on the inside of the 
pipe, that unless the angle of the beveling were perfectly true, the outer 
edges of the staves would be much tighter clamped together by reason of 
the iron hoops outside. 

I would suggest, then, as the cause of the destruction of the clear w r ater 
pipe — first of all — the decaying of a very thin layer of the surface of the 
wood through the chemical action of the river water ; and secondly, the 
breaking up and removal of this decayed surface by aquatic insects, so as to 
constantly expose a new surface of the wood to the action of the water. 

I am aware that it is held by many that sound pine wood kept constantly 
submerged beneath the surface of water is practically indestructible, and I 
have no doubt that under some circumstances, and for some purposes, this 
might be the case. It must, however, be remembered that more or less air, 
varying with the circumstances, is always dissolved in water. I am under 
the impression that water containing a large quantity of air, as the water of 
the Ottawa River necessarily does, after passing down the Deschenes Rapids, 
would be more destructive to wood submerged in it than water containing 
less oxygen. 

With regard to the insects found upon the staves submitted to me, they 
were, for the most part, predaceous larvae of beetles and dragon flies or 
allied insects. ' I might mention that none of these insects have ever been 
known to bore into sound wood, but feed exclusively upon decaying 
vegetable tissues in water, and their occurring in large numbers upon the 
clear water pipe may possibly be due to the unusual quantity of decaying 
bark, which, I am informed, lies in the Ottawa River, near the inlet of this 
pipe, and which would attract these insects as a suitable breeding ground. 
They are in no way related to the ordinary timber-boring beetles which are 
so destructive to standing timber and manufactured lumber in all parts of 
the world. 

The oak slat taken from the rack near the pump-house, and which had 
only been in the rack for ten years, was proportionately much more de- 
stroyed than the pine staves. The slats were half an inch in thickness by 
four inches in width when put in the rack ; but many of them are now so 
seriously injured that it is necessary to replace them. In most of the slats 
the greater part of the wood has been entirely consumed.— Engineering and 
Building Record, Sept. 20, 1889. 



Wooden Water-Supply Conduits. 
The company referred to is the Citizens' Water Co., of Denver, Colo., 
now developing a gravity supply, in connection with which several miles of 
wooden conduits will be used. The parts of the report referring to wooden 
pipe are as follows : 



746 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



I think the construction of 17 miles of wooden conduit a great mistake, and one 
which will entail great financial loss to investors, because it is short-lived, leaky and in a 
year or two foul and contaminating to the water. The pipe is very short-lived when 
buried under ground. The rapid and enormous growth of fungi in these wooden pipes 
whenever for any cause the pipe is emptied for a few days, is so rapid that the friction 
would be greatly increased in the pipe 24 hours after emptying. This defect is also the 
cause of contamination in the water supply. 

Although the comparative merits of wooden and iron pipes have been 
pretty thoroughly discussed in these columns and elsewhere, it may be that 
additional light can be thrown upon the question by some of our readers. 
If so, we shall be pleased to hear from them. — Engineering News, July 
23d, i8gi. 

Wooden Pipe Water.— It is nothing but a Fever Breeder. 

It has been a well-established fact for years that wooden pipes poison 
water and render it dangerous to health. The Citizens' Water Company 
brings its water to the city entirely through wooden pipes. It was rumored 
yesterday that in addition to a free gift of its poisoned water, it will also 
furnish free of charge a specialist upon typhoid fever to its customers. The 
Denver Water Company furnishes the only pure water brought to the city. 
— Denver Republican, 3 fay 3d, 1892. 



Another Denver paper states : " 'The Fever Breeder Wooden 
Pipe Water Company ' are supplying its consumers free of 
charge for six months in order to induce consumers to take 
their water." 

The Artesian Hot and Coed Water Company, Limited, \ 

Boise City, Idaho, Nov. 23d, 1894. J 
National Tube Works Co. 

Will you please give us estimate on the cost of about 3,000 feet of 10- 
inch pressure pipe for water having a uniform temperature of 171 degrees 
Fahr? We shall probably require some expansion joints and would like to 
have you give us the cost of them also. 

Our water is conducted from the wells to town through wooden-pipe. 
The wooden-pipe has rotted until it is useless. Any information you will 
give us will be appreciated. State, also, if you please, how long you would 
need to fill the order should the Company decide to do this work at once. 

B. S. Howe, Secretary. 



LEAD POISONING. 



Lead Poisoning. — L,ead pipe has been traditionally injurious to health 
from the time of Vitruvius, 2,000 years ago, to the present day. In spite 
of this tradition, millions of people have been drinking water through it 
from that day to the present time, and it seems to be doubtful if one well 
authenticated case of lead-poisoning by the use of lead pipes can be found. 
— Industrial World, October 26th, 1893. 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 747 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 

The successful introduction of any new, useful and econom- 
ical mechanical device naturally induces imitation or competi- 
tion, as the case may be. The Converse Patent Lock Joint has 
been no exception to the rule. The attempts which have been 
made by manufacturers of wrought-iron pipe at home and 
abroad to provide themselves with a joint to compete with the 
Converse Joint are almost numberless. Up to the present date 
these efforts have resulted in total failure. 

The only concern which has so far succeeded as to actually 
place a joint of this nature before the public and present any- 
thing like a claim of merit for it, has been the American Tube 
and Iron Company. 

This company introduced a joint during the fall of 1888, 
which they termed the " Matheson " Joint, for which they 
claimed all of the superior merits enjoyed by the Converse 
joint, and entered the field in competition with the latter. 

In place of recounting the many failures of this joint, we 
will simply confine ourselves to some of the weaknesses in its 
construction and one or two expert opinions regarding it, based 
upon actual experience. 



Circular Letter No. 374. \ 
McKeesport, Pa., January 21st, 1888. f 

The objections to the American Tube and Iron Company's new joint, are 
as follows : 

1st — The ends of the 'pipe are grooved, as described, thus weakening 
the iron by the amount cut away. 

2d — When " field " joints are required, no grooves can be cut without 
special machinery. As grooves are an objection, this may be considered in 
the light of an advantage. 

3d — The sockets taper to^the centre, requiring great care in inserting 
and loss of time in properly centering pipe. 

4th — To make a tight joint, the ends of the pipe must be carefully 
trimmed square and the ends butted closely. 

5th — Unless the greatest care is taken to properly centre and butt the 
ends, the lead will run through into the pipe. 

6th — As the joints require to be thoroughly centered and ends butted, 
there is no allowance for expansion and contraction, and when this occurs 



748 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the grooves will move the lead, and everybody knows that lead is not elastic 
and will not, therefore, resume its original form. 

7th — If you will notice the size of the inside diameter of the joint, as 
compared with the oiitside of the pipe, you will see that it would take but 
little pressure to slip the joint right along over the pipe, thus leaving the 
point of contact unprotected. 

8th — There is no new feature in this joint that we can see, other than 
the tapering of the casting to a centre. 

"When taking out our patents for locks, we thought of these grooves, 
but abandoned the idea, because we consider such device detrimental to the 
strength of the pipe and ineffective of purpose ; in fact, an objection instead 




of an advantage. If the " xAmerican " propose to use this joint for water 
purposes with light-weight shells, you can see at a glance that little or no 
groove could be cut without going through the body of pipe. For gas 
weights, it is absolutely necessary to have the full strength of the shell— any 
groove weakens it. 

You now have before you the great " American " Joint, with a specifica- 
tion of its weak points. 

E. C. CONVERSE, Ass't General Manager. 



Circular Letter No. 1,513- I 

McKEESPORT, Pa., November i6th, 1888. ) 
Those who are old employes of this company will at once recognize 
that this is a resurrected Slip-Joint pipe. 

In the " 70's " we manufactured a Slip-Joint pipe, which was nothing 
more nor less than a joint exactly like the cut hereinafter set forth, with 
two exceptions only : 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 



749 



ist — The joint we made had no slot, or groove, cut in the male end. 

2d — The flare of the female end was of ordinary bell-shape, and did not 
contain the rounded knee shown in the sketch at the point " D." 

We predict another failure for the " American " in the use of this " res- 
urrected slip-joint." 

ist — The groove in the male end of the pipe, as you will see from the 
drawing, cuts away nearly one-half of the iron, and must, of necessity, 
weaken the pipe 50 per cent, at that point, and it cannot, therefore, be used 
on special light pipe. 

2d — The expanding of the female end to the extent shown, and to the 
extent sufficient to provide for the lead packing, disintegrates the molecules 




of iron, weakens the fibre and renders the shrinking on of the band " A " an 
absolute necessity in order to withstand the calking and prevent splitting at 
the first strain. 

3d — The shrinking on of the band "A," although a necessity to keep 
the female end from splitting at the edge, does not re-inforce the strained 
fibres of the iron at the point opposite the letter " D." Without the band 
"A," this joint would be entirely useless, because the body of the 
pipe must necessarily be very thin after the joint is formed by expanding, 
so that if, from any cause, a ring should slip from its position (and this is 
very apt to occur), that joint will be sure to leak. 

4th — The over-lapping of the male pipe at the point marked " X " will 
create an enormous amount of friction, and will serve to lessen the carrying 
capacity of the pipe. You are probably aware that when gas, water, or 
whatever fluid or vapor is being carried through a pipe, strikes an obstacle 
like a lap, or obstruction, shown in the "American" joint at the letter 
"X," it creates an eddy, or riffle, which retards the flow and chokes the 
pipe at the point of contact. 

5th — No provision is made for longitudinal strains. 

6th — No provision whatever is made for expansion or contraction. 



750 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



7th — The joint is perfectly rigid and cannot be deflected. 

8th — Taking the measurements, based on the scale of sketch hereinafter 
given (and it is an exact copy of an original issued by the " American "), 
this joint will require more lead at the one end than both ends of our Con- 
verse Joint, and it has no positive lock, like the latter joint. 

9th — Sooner or later, I predict that this joint will be discarded for simi- 
lar reasons that led to our discarding the old Slip-Joint pipe in the '7o's. 

Get the above points well in your mind ; study the drawing so that at 
any time you can readily sketch it and explain it to a customer, and when 
you meet this make-shift affair in competition, do not hesitate to attack the 
mechanical construction and its general inefficiency in the most savage and 
relentless manner. 

E. C. Converse, Ass't General Manager. 



THREE MONTHS LATER. 

Please refer to McKeesport circular-letter No. 15 13, dated 
November 16, 1888, on the subject of the latest " Matheson 
Joint." We therein explained its construction fully, showing 
that it was almost an exact counterpart of the slip-joint made 
by us in the '70's. Note also the following quotation from said 
circular-letter : " We predict another failure for the 'American ' 
in the use of this resurrected slip-joint." 

By referring to McKeesport circular No. 374, dated January 
21st, 1888, you will find it refers to a joint put on the market 
about that time by the American Tube and Iron Company to 
compete with the " Converse." We called attention to its weak 
points and predicted failure, which was subsequently verified, 
so when we predicted another failure in circular-letter No. 1,513, 
this circular No. 374 was in our minds, and in consequence we 
referred to it then. 

Since the time that No. 1,513 was issued, but three months 
have elapsed, and it is now our intention to demonstrate that 
this new joint is a positive failure. 

When circular No. 1,513 was issued, this great " Matheson " 
joint was untried, as far as we knew, and while at that time it 
was as carefully considered as it has been now, from a mechani- 
cal standpoint, and while we were then just as thoroughly con- 
vinced of its ultimate failure as we are now, yet had the Amer- 
ican Tube and Iron Company been aware of our arguments, the 
answer to same would have been to the effect that the ; ' National" 
people, having never tried this joint, what they say is simply 
" theory," with a little "jealousy" thrown in. It is not to be 
supposed for one instant, that we would put on the market a 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 751 



joint of this kind without first trying it and proving its 
superiority. 

The situation is now entirely changed. An argument of 
this kind would not be considered by an unprejudiced person, 
conversant with the facts. The question of ''theory" is one of 
the past, for this joint, while not having been weighed in the 
balance, has been tried in a "practical" manner and found 
wanting in many important essentials. 

The Tiffin (Ohio) Natural Gas Line, recently laid was fur- 
nished with this joint on their pipe. The fact that there was 
grave trouble with the line came to our notice, and we deter- 
mined on a quiet investigation, which has been made by a man 
thoroughly versed as to the manufacturing of pipe, laying of 
lines, etc., so that his report is beyond dispute. Briefly, it is as 
follows : 

The City Superintendent, for some " unknown " reason, was 
prejudiced in favor of this joint, but admitted that it failed to 
come up to his expectations, and that if he ever had any more 
pipe to buy, he would, if necessary, pay a higher price for a 
better make, and to use his own words : " No more Matheson 
Joint " for him. 

The " contractor " stated that, speaking as a contractor, he 
might prefer laying pipe with the Matheson Joint, but as a citi- 
zen and taxpayer he would certainly prefer some other make, 
as the pipe was very weak wherever it was expanded, and much 
more on the subject, but simply bearing us out in our claims as 
made in this circular letter. The Superintendent of the Com- 
pany condemned it in the strongest possible language, and 
stated that he would advise any one asking him about the joint 
to have nothing to do with it. 

Our representative then investigated the line personally, 
and in a length of a little over two miles counted one hundred 
leaks, nearly one half of which were in the pipe. 

The men working on the line volunteered the information 
that had the ground not been frozen "a great deal more could 
have been seen." 

The place that appears to have given away is where the 
pipe is belled and nearly always in the seam, and it follows 
around where the ring is shrunk on. The illustration demon- 
strates these points plainly. 

A number of the lengths will have to be taken up and re- 
placed with others, some having burst, and it is proposed that 
clamps be put on many more of them. 



752 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Our representative goes on to state that from his own per- 
sonal observation on this line, and also on another where similar 
pipe was used, that this joint is not reliable, its only merit being 
the apparent cheapness. 

Hearing that the line had not been accepted by the Council, 
our representative pursued his investigations still further. The 
contractor stated that this was a fact, but he was all right, as 
the city authorities had been using gas for two weeks. The 
City Commissioner holds the same view ; he says the City com- 
mitted an error in using any of the gas, and thinks it will have 
to accept the line. It would appear as if those interested were 
trying to make the best of a very bad job. 

A few extracts from reports of some of the meetings of the 
City Council, when this matter was under discussion, copied 
from the local press, may not be uninteresting reading : 

Under date of January 9th we find : 

A sensation was caused in the City Council Monday night by Gas Super- 
intendent Keppel charging Lewis Shoulder, a Councilman, and J. D. Welsh, 
contractor, for the laying of the pipe line from Wood County, with conspir- 
ing to defraud the City by covering the pipe in the trench before the joints 
were properly secured. As the line has cost nearly $100,000 the Council at 
once appointed a committee to investigate. The joints were found to be 
very bad, and over two hundred leaks were discovered. 

Under date of January 10th, giving report of a Council 
meeting, we find that the question of defects on the line was 
considered, and a heated argument was the result. A commit- 
tee of five was finally appointed to go out on the line and make 
a careful investigation of the charges, which not only covered 
defects in the pipe but intimations of corruption. 
Under date of January 17th, we find : 

The report of the select committee to examine the pipe line being 
called for, Mr. Holmes gave a detailed report of the trip made by the com- 
mittee on Tuesday of last week. He stated that a number of leaks were 
found near the regulator, west of Fostoria, and from thirty to forty from 
that place to the village, some of them trivial and others of a dangerous 
character. Some of the most serious leaks were due to defects in the pipe. 
The committee found no part of the line completed as the contract was 
understood. 

Mr. Holmes' report was a verbal one, consequently it seems 
to us advisable to repeat a few extracts from same, copied from 
another newspaper : 

Several of the leaks were really dangerous. The worst leaks were 
caused by defects in the pipe. After the caulkers had passed the leaks were 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 753 



very numerous, as they had only gone over the line once. In Fostoria were 
found a number of leaks, many of which were due to defects in the pipe, 
and some of them should be repaired at once. Some of the bad leaks caused 
by defects could be stopped by putting a collar on the pipe over the leaks. 
There were a number of places where it was thought it might be necessary 
to take out defective joints. Contract had not been complied with. Did 
not know about pipe lines, but the contract called for tight line, and this 
was not such an one. 

Let us now consider this joint solely from a mechanical 
standpoint. 

Economy is the first great advantage claimed for it, as 
compared with any other, and to use the manufacturer's own 
words, " the surplus thickness of metal required for screwed 
joint being unnecessary." 

In the face of this the American Tube and Iron Company 
have recently furnished a line of pipe 5/16 inch thick for Car- 
negie Brothers & Company, taken at an extremely low price, 
where specification was for pipe y^ inch thick. 

It is evident that there must have been some very im- 
portant reason for this expensive substitution, and it is undoubt- 
edly this : The extra thickness is absolutely necessary to allow 
for the expanding of the lead space, which thins the iron very 
materially, as does also the cutting of the so-called locks. 

Again, before we leave this subject of " economy," a 
further quotation from the manufacturers' circular will be of 
interest : 

As all other lead or screw and socket joints have a double connection, 
and the Matheson a single one at each joint, a saving of 50 per cent, in this 
respect is made, and also a corresponding one in maintenance. 

This is a very broad statement, but at the same time a fal- 
lacious one. Observe the facts : 

There is a saving of 50 per cent, in lead — but to the pipe 
manufacturer, not to the pipe buyer, for the reason that this one 
joint requires as much lead as both ends of the Converse Lock 
Joint. As the manufacturer has no lead to furnish, the buyer is 
of necessity compelled to do it, and it matters not whether he 
pays for half of the lead when he purchases the pipe and the 
balance when it is laid, or pays for the whole of it when it is 
laid. The saving of lead to the manufacturers is one of the 
reasons which enables them to offer pipe with this joint at such 
low prices. 

There will not only be no saving in cost of maintenance, 
but a large increase in same, for two reasons : 



754 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ist — All expansion and contraction in each length of pipe 
will come on this one joint, while in the Converse Joint it is di- 
vided on both ends. 

2d — The less movement there is in the joints of this class, 
the fewer leaks there will be, and that there must of necessity 
be twice the movement in this joint that there is in the Con- 
verse Joint is an assertion which is absolutely undeniable. 

Simplicity in construction is another claim made by the 
manufacturers. This simplicity we will admit, but in an en- 
tirely different sense. There is too much simplicity about the 
joint, for lead, being of such a soft nature, will not form a re- 
liable lock, consequently it is not a lock joint. 

Reliability is another prominent claim made for it. To any 
one familiar with the method of manufacturing lap-weld pipe, 
it must be apparent that the expanding, or belling, of the end 
of the pipe to form this joint, must necessarily be a very severe 
strain on the weld, consequently the joint must always be weak 
at this point when under high pressure. This expanding is also 
a severe strain on the iron itself, as regular pipe iron will not 
stand any such manipulation, the result being a weakening and 
opening up of the fibres. If the iron was strictly homogeneous, 
the result would be very different, but the use of such iron 
is an impossibility, on account of its being so very expensive. 
It is perfectly safe to assume that this expansion weakens the 
iron thirty (30) per cent. For example : A pipe ^3-inch thick, 
expanded sufficiently to make the "Matheson " joint, would not 
stand as much pressure immediately back of the rings where 
the small fractures occur, as a pipe j^-inch thick which has not 
been expanded and fitted with the Converse Joint. 

Further, should a small leak occur where the pipe has been 
expanded, it would be almost impossible to repair by clamping, 
on account of the uneven surface of the pipe, caused by the ex- 
pansion. In such a case there is but one remedy, and that is to 
take out the entire length of pipe. The iron must also be much 
thinner at the lock recess to obtain the necessary lead space. 

Having shown three glaring mechanical errors : ist, the 
straining of the weld ; 2d, the opening of the fibers of the iron, 
and 3d, the thinning of the pipe, it is now proper to ask, Where 
is the reliability ? 

The claim that this joint is practically flush and smooth on 
the inside, reducing friction very materially, should be carefully 
considered. 

A glance at the illustration shows a projection at every joint, 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 755 



equal to the thickness of the iron, consequently the inside of 
said joints cannot be flush and there must necessarily be a large 
amount of friction at every joint. 

At the time of making our investigation on the Tiffin line, 
putting clamps on many of the leaks was in contemplation, but 
when the operation is tried, it will then be found to be a very 
difficult one, and that the trouble cannot be overcome in that 
manner, for reasons already given. 

We now think that we have demonstrated fully the com- 
plete and miserable failure of the great " Matheson " Joint. 
You will please note how conclusively the practical use of this 
joint confirms our assertions from a mechanical standpoint. 

In closing, we repeat with emphasis an extract from cir- 
cular-letter No. 15 13 : 

Whenever you meet this make-shift affair in competition, you need 
have no hesitancy in attacking the mechanical construction and its general 
inefficiency in the most savage and relentless manner. 



SUPERINTENDENT R. B. TATE'S EXPERIENCE. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., July, 1890. 
E. C. Converse, Gen. Man. National Tube Works Co. 

Having been requested by your Mr. George N. Riley, to give my views 
as an expert, on the merits of your Converse Lock Joint pipe, as a carrier of 
high -pressure gas, etc., I take much pleasure in availing myself of this op- 
portunity to give my opinion, founded on several years actual experience in 
the use of the Converse Lock Joint pipe, and pipe made by other makers. 

For several years I occupied the position of General Superintendent for 
the Chartiers Natural Gas Company of this city, and only ceased my con- 
nection with that company when it amalgamated with the Philadelphia Gas 
Company and under the latter Company I was Superintendent of the largest 
division in their system, viz., the South Side division of Pittsburgh, and 
which comprised more mills and house services than any other in their entire 
plant. 

During the time that I held these positions, there was laid by me, and 
under my direction, several hundreds of miles of pipe of various sizes and 
makes for gas-carrying purposes. 

Previous to this time I had been engaged as superintendent of one of 
the mills in Allegheny City, whose sole output was wrought-iron pipe. 

I have also been consulting engineer for several gas companies in Ohio 
and Indiana, and of late have been engaged as a contractor to lay several 
miles of 12-inch, 16-inch and 20-inch pipe for the Carnegie Gas Company 
from their Vanceville and Amity wells into their works at Homestead, and I 
think that I know whereof I speak, when I claim to understand the merits 
of any class of wrought-iron pipe for any and all purposes, for which such 
pipe can be used. 



756 FACTS ABOUT PIPE 



As I understand the request of Mr. Riley, it is that I shall confine myself 
to the relative merits of the different makes of wrought-iron pipe, which 
make their joints with lead, and as there are but two firms in the business, 
which make a specialty of this class of joint, viz. : your company with the 
Converse Lock Joint, and the American Tube and Iron Company with the 
Matheson Joint, I will in my remarks confine myself to a criticism of these 
two only. 

Some years ago the Chartiers Gas Company had one of their many lines 
laid along the sloping side of a hill. On this hill occurred what is known 
as a landslide, or breaking away of the ground, whereby a large body of earth 
was carried down against our pipe for a distance of nearly 500 feet, bending 
the line for that length almost in the form of a bow. 

This line was made of your 16-inch Converse Lock Joint pipe, and it was 
truly a lock joint, for the pipe held together for almost an entire week against 
this terrible strain of thousands of tons bearing against it, until the suc- 
ceeding Sunday, thus preventing a gas-stoppage at the many mills and 
houses in Pittsburgh which were dependent upon it for their gas supply. 

Had this line been made with the joint of the American Tube and Iron 
Company (which is claimed to be a lock joint, but is not, as it is merely one 
end of a pipe entered in to the expanded end of another pipe, similar to a 
cast-iron pipe joint) the line for this entire distance would have been broken, 
and a loss entailed on the company and its customers of many thousands of 
dollars. 

I mention this as one of many occurrences of a like nature which have 
happened within my knowledge, wherein your Converse Lock Joint has suc- 
cessfully withstood such strains while carrying gas and water ; and I have 
also known where landslides have occurred (and they are frequent in this 
hilly country of Western Pennsylvania) that pipe made with joints other 
than your lock joint, have been broken, and caused damages not easily re- 
paired ; but within my knowledge I have never known this to occur where 
your Converse Lock Joint pipe has been used. 

As I mentioned in another part of this letter, I am at present engaged 
in laying a line for the Carnegie Gas Company. This line is about 33 miles 
long, about 25 miles of it being of 16-inch and 20-inch diameter, made by 
your company, with your lock joint, and eight miles of it, of 12-inch pipe, 
made by the American Tube and Iron Company with their (so-called) lock 
joint. 

Being engaged in the laying of both of these joints at the same time, I 
can, of course, form an accurate and just opinion of their respective merits. 

Speaking first of your lock joint pipe (which in my judgment stands 
ahead of all other joints, and is superior to any class of joint made for gas- 
carrying purposes), I will say that its great merit with me lies in the fact 
that where the joint is made, that part of the pipe is strengthened by the 
addition of a large band of metal designated a hub, wherein are located the 
locking chambers, into which the rivets used for that purpose enter, and it 
is thus securely held, after being locked. 

Another feature of this metal band that merits my approval, is the fact 
that this locking device is so scientifically constructed that it permits of the 
joint being deflected, so that the line can be laid to conform the config- 
uration of the ground without injuring or weakening the joint a particle. 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 757 

There are other points that can be mentioned in favor of your Converse 
Lock Joint, an important one of which is, that the amount of lead that is 
required to make a joint in your 16-inch pipe is less than is used to make a 
joint in the 12-inch pipe of other makes. 

In laying the pipe made by the American Tube and Iron Company, I 
find that while it is easy to put the one end of a pipe into the expanded end 
of another one, and this is likely to be favored by contractors, as there is 
no locking chamber to be entered, yet my experience other than a con- 
tractor compels me to say that this very fact weakens the joint, as no one 
knows, or can be sure, that the pipe is entered into the expanded chamber 
as far as it is meant to be, or if entered, that it will stay there, there being 
nothing to hold it in its place. This is a very bad feature in this joint in a 
level country, and much more so in such a broken country as this is where 
we are now laying this line. 

Another thing that is noticeable, is, that the Converse Lock Joint pipe 
is held in its place securely by the rivets in the locking chambers in laying 
down a hillside, and cannot by any possibility move from its position after 
being so locked. The American Tube and Iron Company's pipe having no 
such fastening, is liable to move in every joint, and it takes a great deal of 
extra attention and labor on the part of the men engaged in laying this 
pipe, to try and prevent this slipping, and after all of this extra care, no 
person can be sure that it has not so slipped, more or less. 

Another thing in connection with this joint that any experienced person 
must notice at a first glance, is that where the end of the pipe is expanded 
to form the chamber into which the other pipe is entered, this expansion is 
done at the expense of the strength of the iron, as in the expansion the iron 
is perceptibly thinned and the fibers of the iron weakened at the very point 
where the pipe should be the strongest. 

Contrasted with the Converse Lock Joint, this weakness becomes very 
apparent, the one being strengthened by a heavy band of metal, and the 
other end perceptibly thinner than is the body of the pipe. 

There are other points which I could enumerate, in contrasting these 
two joints, but this letter being already so much longer than I originally de- 
signed it to be, I will refrain from so doing, and will say in conclusion, 
that with my knowledge of pipe-making and pipe-laying, if I were about to 
put down a line of my own, for gas, oil or water carrying purposes, I most 
certainly would not use any other class of pipe if I could procure the Con- 
verse Lock Joint pipe. 

(Signed) R. B. Tate. 

SUPERINTENDENT F. A. HOFFMAN'S EXPERIENCE. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., July 1st. 1890. 
E. C. Converse, Esq., Ge?i. Man. National Tube Works Company. 

In answer to the inquiry of your engineer, Mr. George N. Riley, as to 
whether I " would be willing to give an opinion (based upon my knowledge 
of both classes of pipe) relative to the merits of the Converse Lock Joint pipe, 
manufactured by the National Tube Works Company and that of the Mathe- 
son Joint pipe, made by the American Tube and Iron Company, both of 
them being of wrought-iron, with lead joints," I would say : 



758 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



I have been for nearly twenty years engaged in the oil and gas business 
in various capacities, and for the past four years have been General Super- 
intendent of the Carnegie Gas Company, one of the largest firms in the 
country engaged in the pipeage of gas, they having laid to their wells in 
the Murrysville and Grapeville fields in Westmoreland County an aggregate 
of over 45 miles of pipe, and they are now laying 34 miles of pipe to their 
wells located in the Vanceville and Amity fields in Washington County. 

Our first line to the Grapeville field was a screw joint, 10 inches diam- 
eter. This was soon found to be too small to supply the works at Braddock 
and Homestead, and it was determined to put in a larger pipe alongside this 
one, and here commenced my acquaintance with the " Matheson " joint, 
the Carnegie Gas Company having decided to put in a line of that make of 
pipe, 12 inches in diameter. 

This joint, as I suppose you are aware, is made by expanding one end 
of the pipe by hydraulic pressure to a shape somewhat similar to the old 
cast-iron bell mouth, and in so doing the iron is very perceptibly thinned 
out in the very place where it is absolutely necessary for gas-carrying pur- 
poses that the pipe should be the strongest. 

To remedy this glaring defect, there is a rough iron ring shrunk over 
the expanded end, but, as every engineer knows, this rough ring put on 
another rough surface cannot by any possibility close up the pores in the 
iron, opened by the enormous force required to expand this bell opening. 
There is a so-called locking device on this joint, which is made on the other 
end of the pipe, which is inserted in the bell by cutting a ring or groove in 
the pipe about }( of an inch from the end, % inch wide and from ]/% to 3-16 
inch deep. 

This device, in my opinion, is far from being a lock, as, in case of there 
being any movement of the pipe, it will, and does, carry the lead along 
with it. 

Contrasted with this, your Converse Lock Joint pipe, which we are now 
laying for our Amity line, is a perfect lock. The rivets and the recess in 
your hubs are so situated that it is an impossibility to make the lock unless 
the pipe is abutting the ring in the hub made for that purpose. Not so 
with the Matheson joint. After it is entered, there is no way whereby any 
one knows whether it will stay where it is first placed or move half out 
again. 

Another point is that, in passing over a hilly and broken country, such 
as we have in Western Pennsylvania, it is possible with your Converse Lock 
Joint pipe to lay forty or fifty miles, or as much more as desired, without 
having one piece of bent pipe in the line. 

Your locking device acts as a hinge, whereby the joint can be deflected 
so that the line will conform to the contour of the ground without any pos- 
sibility of moving the pipe from the position it is placed in, the rivets 
securely holding it in its place. 

Again, in coming with your pipe down a hill, which in this country we 
have to do very frequently, it being up hill and down again almost all the 
time, we know that the rivets, when entered in your locking recess in the 
hub, will firmly hold the pipe where it belongs, abutting the ring in the 
hub, and the lead can be poured therein with an assurance of making a 
perfect joint. 



THE MATHESON JOINT. 759 



Not so with the Matheson Joint in going down hill. The pipe, after 
being entered, has got to be held in place by bars, and there is no assurance 
after the lead is poured that the pipe has not dropped out from the place it 
was first placed in. 

Again, I consider that aside from the relative merits of the two joints, 
the fact of the one being strengthened by a heavy metal hub, while the 
other is weakened by expansion, and then attempted to be strengthened by 
shrinking a ring over the weak part, is enough to make me favor the Con- 
verse Lock Joint, which is easily and quickly laid, is virtually, and, in fact, 
is one unbroken pipe, the surface of both ends abutting against a ring in 
the hub, and which has no protruding ends or surfaces to retard the flow of 
the gas in any manner. 

I could go on at further length, and on other points, but it might be 
considered that I was becoming invidious, whereas, the fact is that these 
joints being both made with lead (which, in my opinion, is the best way of 
making a joint for gas-carrying purposes), a comparison between both of 
these joints could not be avoided. 

I have seen and known of several hundred miles of the Converse Lock 
Joint pipe, which have been used in and around this part of the country, 
and I have always heard it highly spoken of, and from my own knowledge 
I can, and do cheerfully say, that this class of pipe is all that it is claimed 
to be by its makers, and that for easy, quick, and secure laying in this 
broken country it cannot be equalled. 

(Signed) F. A. Hoffman, 

General Superintendent Carnegie Gas Company. 



PREDICTIONS SUBSTANTIATED. 

During the latter part of September, 1891, General Manager 
Converse had a conversation with Mr. F. A. Hoffman, Super- 
intendent of the Carnegie Natural Gas Company, in which he 
(Hoffman) informed him that a line of the American Tube and 
Iron Company's " Matheson " Joint pipe, which had been in use 
but little over a year, had become so leaky and impaired that 
he feared it would be necessary for him to have the entire line 
taken up, and the Matheson joints cut off and replaced with 
Converse joints. 

Shortly after this conversation — about October 10th — Super- 
intendent Hoffman informed our Traveling Engineer, Mr. George 
N. Riley, that he had sent us his order for a sufficient number 
of Converse Joint hubs to refit a mile of the Matheson Joint 
pipe which had supplied one of their most important mills with 
natural gas, it being so unreliable that he was not warranted in 
taking the chances of its giving out entirely and causing the 
suspension of operations in important departments. 

In this connection a perusal of Mr. T. W. Brooks' letter 
relating to Vallejo, Cal., will be of interest. You will find it on 
page 2S9. 



760 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



PENNSYLVANIA TUBE WORKS LEAD 
LOCK JOINT. 

Here is given an illustration of the Cast-Iron Lead Lock 
Joint adopted by the Pennsylvania Tube Works Co. for plain 
end pipe, in competition with same class of goods made by us, 
fitted with the Converse Patent Lock Joint. Our criticism of 
the Matheson Joint in circular letter 374, issued January 1st, 
1888, very thoroughly covers what should be said about the 
physical defects in this Pennsylvania joint by reason of the sim- 




ilarity of design. Of the two, the Matheson Joint is the better, 
but neither of them are founded on correct principles. I do not 
consider this Pennsylvania design a joint or coupling for it is 
nothing more or less than an old-fashioned sleeve, which has 
long been used for repair work. Like the American, the Penn- 
sylvania cuts a groove in the ends of the pipe for a lock. The 
lead space is entirely out of proportion, being 3^ inches broad 
and only ^f of an inch thick, rendering it an impossibility to 
pour the lead properly without first heating the casting. It 
will be very difficult to pour the lead, even in an unsatisfactory 
way, if workmen are subjected to wet ditch or cold water. In 
order to fill the space provided for the lead it is necessary for 
parts of the metal to run to the back of the space to a fine 
feather edge. Before reaching such point the lead will cer- 



PENNSYLVANIA TUBE WORKS LEAD LOCK JOINT. 761 



tainly chill, leaving a cavity for the water or gas to get back of, 
and force the joint out under reasonably high pressure. 

The lead space is so broad that it will be impossible to prop- 
erly upset the metal by calking. We have repeatedly tested the 
upsetting of lead in order to get the exact proportions for our 
Converse Joint, and these experiments have taught us that when 
the lead space is too deep the blows of the hammer or the calk- 
ing tool simply batters up the outside, leaving the inner portion 
of the lead, where the work should be thoroughly done, totally 
undisturbed, and consequently in an ineffective state. It is a 
well-known fact, based upon actual practice, that lead in a joint 
will not be upset deeper than J/% of an inch. The selection of a 
broader space in the Pennsylvania Joint shows conclusively that 
the designers are absolutely ignorant of these circumstances. 

The groove in the pipe is a serious detriment to the joint. 
If it was possible to calk the joint up tight (which it is not), the 
least movement in the joint by expansion, contraction or in- 
ternal strains, would destroy any proper calking which had been 
done at the face of the joint. The old-fashioned straight sleeve 
with a properly designed lead space would be a better device 
than what the Pennsylvania people have adopted. 

As the lead space is only % of an inch thick at the face 
there is no margin whatever for deflection. There are very few 
pipe lines laid to-day, unless possibly, in large cities, where the 
joints are all straight work and deflection unnecessary. It would 
be a mechanical impossibility to lay a line of the Pennsylvania 
joint pipe over a topography showing sharp broken lines. In 
laying a pipe line, if it is not absolutely straight it shows more 
or less deflection at every joint, either by reason of broken to- 
pography or by the pipe being the least bit out of round, which 
very often occurs, especially on large sizes and in connection 
with light gauges. The author asked our Superintendent, Mr. 
Patterson, what he thought of the Pennsylvania joint, and re- 
ceived the following reply : 

In the first place, there is no inner ring for the pipe to butt against, so 
the hubs are liable to come loose in transportation. 

In the second place, there is no lock, as the little recess does not 
amount to anything. 

In the third place, there can be no deflection in the joint. 

In the fourth place, the lead space is neither large enough nor of the 
right shape for tight calking. In cold weather it would be impossible to get 
the lead to run in full, as we know from past experience with the Converse 
joint. We also know from experience that in calking the shape of the lead 
space as designed in the Pennsylvania joint will not permit of proper 



762 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



upsetting. You will also notice the small recess in the hub. What little 
calking may be done on the joint will not compress the lead into this recess, 
but rather pull it away, leaving a vacant space in the recess. In fact, there 
will be a vacant space in this joint from this recess to the end of the pipe, as 
the lead cannot be calked at the lower end of the lead space. This will 
leave about Y% of an inch of lead in which to get the joint tight. 

I would suggest to you to be very careful not to let the Pennsylvania 
people get hold of your criticisms, because the weak points of the joint, 
which are now unknown to them, would be made clear and lead them to 
seek an improvement. As the joint is now, it will soon kill itself, and the 
Pennsylvania people may never know the reason why it died. 

From the above you will observe that the word " lock," 
used in connection with either the Pennsylvania or American, is 
a misnomer pure and simple, and a mere attempt to keep the 
word in connection with the metal lock employed in the joint 
invented by the author. The shape of the lead space has a 




great deal to do with the success of lead calking. A true lead 
space should be in the shape of a bent knee, or just such as is 
employed in the Converse joint. Like the shape, the propor- 
tions are also important. 

The above drawing shows the kind of connection that 
would be made if careless or "green" workmen should not 
centre the ends of the pipe exactly in the middle of the hub 
when making the joint. 

There is no way of knowing whether the pipe is properly 
centered or not, unless great care and time are taken to measure 
each length and make a mark the requisite distance from the 
end of the pipe, and even then it is very easy to slip the hub a 
little too far. 

In this joint, owing to the great length and shallowness of 
the space, the lead would probably chill before reaching the 



PENNSYLVANIA TUBE WORKS LEAD LOCK JOINT. 763 



opening in the middle of the hub, especially where the defect 
was not quite so pronounced as in the drawing, and you will 
readily appreciate what would happen at such a joint when the 
pressure was put on the line. 

In the fall of 1893 the Pennsylvania Tube Company, through 
reciprocity trade relations, secured part of the order of the 
Carnegie National Gas Company, for 16-inch gas line pipe — about 
4^ miles. I have just received a record of the official test of the 
line. There were 167 leaks, 29 of them being sand holes in the 
castings. Three joints had to be taken out because of insuffi- 
cient lead space — a horrible result notwithstanding the greatest 
care on behalf of the superintendent and engineers of the 
Carnegie line in inspection and laying. 

At the same time that the ^/z miles of 16-inch pipe was pur- 
chased from the Pennsylvania Tube Works, a like amount, or 
A^/z miles, of our 16-inch pipe, fitted with the Converse Lock 
Joint was ordered of us. 

The two lots of 4^ miles each, furnished by these two com- 
panies were laid in separate portions of the line; and, in 
contradistinction to the record of the Pennsylvania Pipe, which 
is herein above given, there were no leaks whatever in the 4^4 
miles furnished by us. Our pipe gave perfect satisfaction and 
required no relaying or alteration of any nature. 

I have been informed that the lack of any lock in the 
Pennsylvania Joint necessitated the taking off of a number of the 
Pennsylvnaia Joints and the substituting of Converse Lock 
Joints. 

The Carnegie Natural Gas Company ordered a large lot of 
16-inch Converse Joints from us, which were used for this pur- 
pose. Certain portions of the line were on straight, level ground, 
and the pipe answered the purpose fairly well without a lock ; 
but it was found impossible to deflect this joint, and, in many 
places where deflection was required, owing to the change of 
direction, or to conform to the contour of the ground, the Con- 
verse Joint was found to be an absolute necessity ; and, owing 
to our friendly relations with the Carnegie people, we permitted 
them to substitute our joint for the Pennsylvania to help them 
out of their scrape. 

The two lots of 4^ miles, furnished by the Pennsylvania 
and National Companies, were laid at the same time, though in 
separate portions of the line, by the same contractors, and were 
subject to the inspection of the same expert, Mr. John Sweeny, 
who occupied the position of Chief Inspector. 



764 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 

The wholesale destruction of water and gas mains by the 
escaping electric fluid employed in the trolley systems through- 
out the country has been the subject of much examination and 
study by the prominent engineers and engineering societies, 
not only of the United States but also of Europe. While all of 
the experts are of one opinion on the question of fact, no satis- 
factory remedy has yet been discovered. The trouble is in its 
infancy, so to speak, and I do not doubt but that sooner or later 
some engineer will arise to the occasion with proper means to 
protect the subterranean conduits from this growing enemy. 
In the meantime, it is gratifying to note that such comparative 
tests as have been made between wrought-iron or steel and cast- 
iron conduits, have shown that the effects of electrolysis on the 
latter are always more rapid and more destructive than on the 
others. 

For months the engineering journals have been teeming 
with articles touching upon the subject, and numerous instances 
have been cited where entire pipe systems have been almost 
wholly destroyed. 

It is not my purpose to herein refer to individual cases 
where the water and gas mains have been affected by electrolysis, 
but to reproduce a few papers and some data prepared by the 
leading electrical engineers, covering the result of their experi- 
ence, tests, observation and study, as giving the best light yet 
thrown upon the subject. 



Abstract of a Paper by H. A. Aelyn, Cambridge, Mass., Read Be- 
fore the New England Association of Gas Engineers.— 
Effects of the Troleey System on Gas and Water Pipes. 
The action of the trolley system on underground metallic work was 
first called to the notice of Charles H. Morse, Superintendent of Wires, of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a complaint from the New England Tele- 
phone Company during the spring of 1892. * * * But a simple experi- 
ment seemed to fasten the responsibility on the trolley system. It 
was suggested that the railroad company substitnte for the copper wires 
under the rails, some of much larger size. The suggestion was adopted. In 
Cambridge, wires of about five-eights inch diameter were employed, while 
in Boston the whole distance covered by the conduits was protected by a 
wire nearly an inch in diameter. * * * Now, under certain conditions, 



ELECTROLYSIS. 765 



the current, in its endeavors to return to the power station, is liable to leave 
its proper road, and run ' ' cross-lots ' ' by any by-paths that may present 
themselves. The paths most easy of access are, of course, the gas and water 
pipes, and these the current appropriates to its purpose without regard to 
consequences. The action on the pipes which ensues is very similar to that 
in an ordinary cell of a voltaic battery. Anyone who has been uufortunate 
enough to have the care of many of these cells, must be aware that in the 
zinc or negative pole a constant wearing away is taking place, necessitating 
frequent renewals. So with the pipes over which the current happens to 
pass. No damage results where the current passes on to the pipes ; when it 
leaves them serious results may follow. * * During the autumn of 

last year many reports of leaking pipes were received at the water office. * 
* * As the reports became more frequent the superintendent became 
convinced that some influence other than the ordinary oxidation was affect- 
ing the mains. The Water Board requested Mr. Morse to investigate the 
matter, and in a series of experiments he found currents of electricity flow- 
ing over the gas and water pipes in all parts of the city, though more 'par- 
ticularly near the power station. * * * The trouble increased ; some of 
the pipes were renewed ; galvanized, tar-coated pipes were each tried in 
turn, but all were about equally affected. In some cases new pipes were 
destroyed in a month's time. * * * In laying a 12-inch main, the pack- 
ing yarn, while being driven, took fire. The joint-maker received some 
severe shocks, and was obliged to drive his yarns with wood. In a building 
located on a corner, two water supplies were connected by a copper wire, 
sufficient current was passing over the wire to heat it too hot to be held in 
the hand. 

Mr. Morse requested the railroad company to connect the mains at fre- 
quent intervals with copper wires, more especially at the "dead-ends" of 
pipes. For a time it was thought this remedy might result in "robbing 
Peter to pay Paul," or, in other words, while the change would prove bene- 
ficial to the water pipes, it would throw an additional burden upon the gas 
pipes. Mr. Morse therefore suggested that the gas and water pipes be con- 
nected by stout copper wires at numerous localities over the city. * 
The railroad companies expressed a willingness to comply with this sug- 
gestion, and were preparing to do so. * * * In a word, the whole ques- 
tion is of such recent origin and presents so many different phases that it 
seems to me the problem is far from being solved. I mention that but one 
instance had come to our notice where the action of the electric current 
could be clearly connected with damage to our pipes. This pipe was an 
iX-i ncn galvanized pipe. After leaving the main it passed under the tele- 
phone conduit, then across the street, under two tracks. It was between 
these tracks that the break occurred. The pipe remained perfectly sound, 
except at each side of the coupling, where it was eaten through. — Engineering 
Record, March iS, 1893. 

ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER PIPES. 

Paper Read by C. H. Morse, of Cambridge, Mass., before the 
New England Water-Works Association. 

Part 1. — When my friend Mr. Nevons about two years and a half ago 
came to me in the corridors of the city hall and said, ' ' Mr. Morse, what 



766 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



effect is the connecting of these wires to our water pipes going to have ? " I 
remember of saying to him at the time, "The effect will be something very 
slight. I anticipate no trouble from it ; you will probably be in your grave 
before any water pipes are injured by electricity." And then, again, about 
two mouths and a half ago, when Mr. Nevons again came to me and said, 
" Mr. Morse, do you suppose that this electric business is having any effect 
on our pipes ? " and I answered him in an entirely different way, saying, 
"Most certainly ; I haven't the slightest doubt but what it is having an 
effect," he gave me a look, as much as to say, "Why, Mr. Morse, you never 
think twice alike, do you? " (daughter.) And it did seem so, really. And 
I remember he rather brought me to an account for that, and when he said, 
" You have changed your mind, haven't 3^011? " I gave him some such reply 
as this : that in electric matters two years and a half certainly do not make 
ancient history. And I think that is particularly so in regard to develop- 
ment of the transmission of power by electric energy. We have had many 
changes in the department of science within that time. I think I can illus- 
trate it no better than to say that the generators which were developing 
power for the West End Railway Company two years aud a half ago are 
now obsolete ; that the motors which were under the cars two years and a 
half ago would not be tolerated now by the company ; new motors have 
been placed in service, larger ones, water-proof motors, gearless motors 
which make less noise, motors which are made dust-proof by iron cases ; 
and there ! are the single reduction motors, the gears of which run in oil, 
making the operation exceedingly quiet. So I feel justified in saying that 
the last two years and a half in some departments of electrical work have 
made ancient history. 

Electrolytic action is not a new thing. In the year 1300 note was made 
of this action. Although the Faradic battery was not discovered till 1799, 
yet electrolytic action has been known for 500 years at least. Iron tools of 
miners working in copper mines were found corroded with a Uiin coating of 
copper caused by electrolytic action. So you see it is really nothing new 
which we are discussing to-day ; it is merely a new application of the 
subject. 

In order that you may understand the whys and wherefores of this, you 
will excuse me if I make comparisons, and go back a little into the theory 
of hydraulics and electricity, comparing the flow of the electric current 
with the water works system. And this is why it gives me pleasure to speak 
to men of your business, you will so quickly grasp the situation. I think, 
sometimes, when these comparisons are made the speaker does not get 
quite far enough back. 

All power emanates, of course, from the sun's heat. We should start 
from our water works when we speak about the pressure and fall of potential 
at the source of supply — the sea. 

The heat of the sun evaporates the water, taking up only the pure 
water and leaving the salt ; the air becomes saturated with this moisture, 
and it flows back steadily into the interior, where it meets colder streams of 
air, if you please to call them streams or currents, and condensation takes 
place. Thus we have our highest potential in a water works system in the 
cloud. The condensation goes on till the drops of water are formed. The 
highest part of a water works system is in the cloud. The drops fall to the 



ELECTROLYSIS. 767 



earth and a part of our energy is lost, but the power is not noticed, as it is 
distributed over such a vast area that the heat effects developed are hardly 
apparent. The water falls back into the water basin and runs back into the 
store-house, as we might call it, the reservoir, and here we generally begin 
when we compare hydraulics and electricity. Then we have our large 
mains leading to all parts of our cities and towns, gradually growing 
smaller and smaller until you get to the faucets in the houses. 

Now, if we could derive only power from our water pressure, and use it 
merely through water motors, the ideal place to put the motor, of course, 
would be the sea level, then we should get our maximum potential. If we 
had our mains big enough we should get our full potential at the water 
wheel — we should get the full head, so to speak. 

In ideal electrical power system should be built on exactly the same 
principles. We have in the city of Boston, in the West End Railway sys- 
tem three separate power houses, one at East Cambridge, one on Albany 
street and one in Allston, not very far from Cambridge. 

These power houses are the reservoirs. We could, if we chose, go back 
of this reservoir to the sun's heat again and think of the coal being formed, 
the trees growing centuries ago in the tropical regions, storing up this im- 
mense amount of potential energy ; this coal then placed under the boilers 
and producing steam ; that steam transformed into mechanical energy in 
the steam engine and the steam engine giving up its power to the dynamo, 
which sends out in the form of electricity ninety-five per cent, of the power 
given to it. Now, in our electrical plant we really get our highest potential 
at what we call the positive pole of the dynamo. The current of electricity 
flows out from the positive pole of the generators. These generators are 
coupled together, say, in multiple — that is— all the positive poles together. 
As two or three steam fire engines may all throw their water into one line 
of hose, so all the generators throw all their energy from the positive side 
of the dynamo onto the feed wires. These feed wires relate to all parts of 
the system. From the East Cambridge power house, for instance, they ex- 
tend to Arlington, all parts of Cambridge, some parts to Boston, to Everett, 
Charlestown and Somerville. Now, then, we have these immense main 
feeders radiating out from the station, upon which the current flows. They 
should be of sufficient capacity to carry the current without a fall of pres- 
sure, the same as with our water mains, when we draw all that the generators 
are capable of developing with safety at the end of our lines. 

Now, if I may refer to a water works system again, every part of cur- 
rent which leaves these feeders and goes through the cars must return to 
the negative pole of the dynamo, as in the water works system every particle 
of water which runs out of the faucets must find its way back to the sea 
level. In the same way the electric current comes back. We lose in our 
water works system a large amount of our power in consequence of dis- 
tributing the water at a higher level than the sea level ; in the electric 
system this should not be necessary. The current goes through the feeders 
to the trolley wires, through the trolley down the pole to the car, through a 
concealed wire through the motor under the car. This motor should con- 
sume all the energy, and when the current leaves and goes into the rail it 
should have an easy path upon which it can return, so easy that there will 
be no loss of pressure noticeable on the return. When electric cars were 



763 FACTS ABOUT PIPE 



first put in operation in Cambridge they depended upon mother earth, the 
water pipes, the gas pipes, and anything over which the current could flow, 
to convey to the station or act as a sewer. No thought was given to the 
loss which would result to the company from doing this, to say nothing 
about the effect upon our pipes. I can illustrate this loss by saying that 
three months ago in parts of Cambridge the loss of pressure due to the 
power which was required to force this current back over this uncertain path 
was 20 per cent. Now, when I tell you that the central stations of the West 
End Railroad Company have a maximum capacity of 12,000 horse power, 
which would give sufficient current for 24,000 arc lamps, the same as are 
used in our streets, or 120,000 incandescent lamps, such as we have in this 
building, you can get an idea of the power which is being sent out. When 
you think of that current returning, as it has been obliged to return, you can 
see that there must be an immense amount transmitted over our pipes. 

The effect of this was called to my attention by the Superintendent of 
the Cambridge Water Works, who is ever viligant in these directions, and a 
series of tests were made to ascertain the quantity, and a little reasoning 
was done to determine the consequences. Electric currents have nearly the 
same laws as hydraulics. You take a two-inch pipe and a four-inch pipe, 
not counting in friction, the four-inch pipe will carry four times as much 
water as the two-inch, the amount varying directly as the square of the di- 
ameters. The current of electricity which will flow through two wires 
side by side is in the same proportion, the larger the wires the larger the 
current, varying as the squares of the diamaters of the wires. We use a 
little different form from what you do, and instead of speaking of diameters 
we speak of wires now as of so many circular mills. This gives us im- 
mediately the amount of current which will pass over these wires. It is 
simply the diameter in the thousandths of an inch squared. 

Part 2. Now, when we come to the word "resistance," I want you 
to bear in mind this : The resistance is the same as it is in a water pipe in 
one sense ; you get small resistance through a large pipe, and the smaller 
the resistance the more water will flow. The same rule holds with the 
wire ; the smaller the resistance the more electricity will flow through it. 
If several paths are open we say the current divides inversely as the resist- 
ance. If the fractional effect or resistance of the wire is small large 
amounts will flow. If we have two water pipes side by side running from 
the same reservoir, and we are drafting from the same point, if the pipes 
are the same fractional effect, we shall have the same current of water flow- 
ing through the two pipes. Now, if we have two wires side by side at- 
tached to the same machine, the current will divide and will flow through 
those wires inversely, according to the resistance. The larger the wire the 
less the resistance, and the more the flowage, provided they are of the same 
metal. When the railroad company put in their power plant they ran large 
numbers of feeders, and one wire between the rails, and attached the two 
rails to this return wire, so that the current will go through the car, through 
the motor to the wheels, to the rails, and get along as best as it can to the 
station. This became, very soon, an uncertain path, as it was found that 
electrolytic action took place upon the wire, and it disappeared in places. 
They thought at first that it was due to something in the soil. But it was 



ELECTROLYSIS. 769 



very soon traced to the same enemy which you have to contend with — 
electrolytic action. 

I remember the practical experience we had with these dead rails, as 
we call them. When this wire was eaten off and a car came on to that sec- 
tion, if by any chance you placed one foot upon the rail and another upon 
the ground near it, shocks could be obtained. That happened simply in 
this way. The current must get back to the station, and it would take to 
the rail, which was not well grounded, would go up the leg of the man who 
stood on the rail and down the other to the earth, especially if the earth 
was a little moist, dividing again inversely according to the resistance. 

The effect was so great that the West End Railroad Company made a 
complete change and reversed the conditions. It would be as if you started 
with your water works system by pumping the water from the sea into the 
sewers, forcing it up out of the sewer pipes and back through the faucets 
and through the mains to the reservoir. That is, they attached the other 
pole to the earth to remedy this difficulty, and instead of sending the cur- 
rent out over the feeders, they commenced about a year and a half ago to 
force it out through the ground, have it go up through the cars and back 
through the feeders. 

When I heard of this I immediately concluded we should have trouble 
from it, and that is why I told my friend Nevons so decidedly I had no 
doubt it would have an effect ; and now I will state some of the effects that 
I have noticed in Cambridge. 

Mr. Nevons and I went to some of the places where we had traced 
these difficulties, or where they had been called to our attention, rather, 
and found that lead pipes had disappeared in a short space of time, some 
even in six or eight weeks. Iron pipes had been tried with the same re- 
sult, also galvanized iron. Brass pipe had been put in, and deterioration 
was noticed at once. " Rustless iron " was tried, and it did rust decidedly. 
(Laughter.) Well, it was not the work of any mysterious agent, but was the 
result of what almost all of you have seen in school experiments — that is, 
the decomposition of water. The current left the West End power house at 
East Cambridge ; it flowed through the ground, and, of course, divided ac- 
cording to the resistance, and took to whatever conductor came in its waj^. 
It took to the rails, the water pipes and the gas pipes. Now, we get no ac- 
tion except at what we call the positive pole ; that is, where the current is 
flowing out of the pipes ; where it takes to the pipe there is no action. The 
current flowed along on the pipes, and in this particular case it got down 
on to Bridge Street, which is near Charles River, and flowed along our sup- 
ply pipes on the wharves, and here it had to get across the river to propel 
the cars in Boston. Where it left those pipes action took place. 

Well, the remedy, the quick remedy for that, of course, was very 
apparent, that is, to reverse the current. So the officials of the West End Rail- 
road Company were invited to a conference with the Water Board and myself, 
and I am pleased to say the company were willing and anxious to do anything 
in their power to obviate this difficulty. A certain amount of credit belongs 
to them for that, although, of course, they had a reason for wanting to do it 
themselves. They were losing anywhere from five to twenty per cent, of 
their power in this return : and when you reckon the loss on 12,000 horse 
power it is quite an item. If they could save five per cent, of that by the 



770 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



investment of a large amount of money it was very desirable for them 
to do it. They were consequently perfectly willing to take hold of this 
matter. 

It was suggested at that time that a reversal of the current might be a 
good thing. Now, I can illustrate to you in a moment why that would have 
an effect. The current was reversed, and now takes to our water pipes in 
just the same places that it left them before. As I told you before, there is 
no action at the point of contact, where it goes into the pipe ; it is only 
where it leaves it. Therefore you would expect a very rapid deterioration 
where it left the pipes near the power- house to go into the machines there. 
Of course, we had to fix the pipes so the current would not leave them 
through the earth. The leaving through the earth would have this effect : 
A difference of potential of two volts — our system of pressure ; you call it 
pounds — in a current flowing from one piece of metal to another through 
moisture causes the decomposition of water, and water forms into the two 
gasses, oxygen and hydrogen, at this place. 

Now, we speak of the oxidation of an iron pipe due to the attacking of 
the pipe by this gas. If it were pure oxygen there you can see we should 
have a very rapid attacking of the pipe. Then we must find some means b)* 
which we can get the current off the pipe without having it go from the pipe 
to the earth, and we do it by soldering very heavy copper wires to the pipes 
in various places and carrying these copper wires into the power-house and 
attaching them to the negative poles of the machines, so the current has an 
easy path over which to leave the pipe. Of course, the result is we get no 
electrolytic action because we don't have the current leaving the pipe 
through the earth connection but through a solid metal connection. 
Observations were made by several of the water works employees 
unintentionally. Some of the other gentlemen present could tell 
you about those, perhaps, better than I. Such an immense amount 
of current was flowing over the pipes that upon attempting to make 
a joint by putting oakum around the pipe, it was found that the electric arc 
was often sufficient to set fire to the oakum, frightening the men con- 
siderably, I imagine. This, of course, would not necessarily indicate a very 
high potential, but proved the presence of a very large quantity of current 
in the earth. 

Tests were made in different parts of the city by means of instruments 
adapted for the purpose, and we found between North Cambridge, Harvard 
Square, Central Square and East Cambridge a fall of potential all the way 
from 25 to 45 volts. Now, you can reckon the percentage as well as I. 
There should be no fall of potential, but there was a loss, as I said, from 25 
to 45 volts, from 500 volts, which is the maximum pressure, making more 
loss than can be allowed with economy. When we attached to the negative 
pole of the machine and made our tests from Harvard Square, we found a 
loss of 100 volts, or 20 per cent, of the pressure. You can now see, as I said 
before, why the company was very ready to take hold of this matter. 

Part 3. — How are we to remedy the difficulty? I know of no way by 
which we can use the single trolley wire system and overcome this difficulty 
without putting up an immense amount of overhead returns, through which 
the resistance will be reduced to almost nothing. How far the company 
will be willing to go in this I cannot say. Their spirit has been so admirable 



ELECTROLYSIS. 771 



in the past I have no right to suppose but what they are willing to carry it 
to that extent. Certainly the city will require it carried to such an extent 
that the pipes will be in perfect safety. The maximum amount of current 
which can be allowed to go over them I am unable to tell you at present, 
but a series of experiments are being conducted now at my house to deter- 
mine this. I have some pipes buried in the earth, the current flowing over 
them, and I am watching carefully the deterioration daily. I am in hopes 
to make a report soon to the Water Board upon the maximum amount which 
can be allowed to flow upon iron pipes from which we will have no effect. 

By doing what we did do, reversing the current and attaching our water 
pipes to the negative pole of the dynamo, we hurt one of our old friends 
seriously — that is, the gas company. You see the effect. The current will 
flow on the water pipes, and it has an easy chance to leave them through 
their connection with the negative pole of the dynamo. Now it flows along 
on a gas pipe, and as soon as it can it will leave the gas pipe to take to the 
water pipe. I felt it my duty to make this clear to the President of the gas 
company, and called his attention to it, saying that something ought to be 
done to protect him, and a conference was had between the railroad people 
and the gas company, and I was invited to be present. At that time we 
made an arrangement with the company which will help it somewhat in 
that direction, and will help us as well as them. 

We propose now to connect the gas pipes and water pipes together in 
all parts of the city. It will be done in buildings. A man from the West 
End Company has been appointed who goes as a gas man to the different 
stores and factories, in those places he will solder a wire to the gas pipe and 
also to the water pipe. This can do no injury to either, but will decidedly 
help both companies. 

You will be a little interested, perhaps, to know of one or two experi- 
ments which we have tried in East Cambridge when investigating this sub- 
ject. Mr. Nevons will be perfectly familiar with the new engine house at 
East Cambridge. It is not yet occupied. There is an old supply which 
comes in from one street that connected with the old house, and a new sup- 
ply comes in from Otis street, I believe. The mains are connected together 
at the corner of Third and Otis streets, and this engine house is on the cor- 
ner. Now, there is sufficient difference in potential between these two pipes 
so that if they are connected together by a medium sized copper wire, about 
a No. 1 8, it will heat the wire so hot you can't bear your hand upon it. 
There is sufficient power to run a good sized motor, and I suggested to the 
engineer that he put a motor on there and run a planing mill and a few 
other little industries* to help out that section of the city. 

It is a matter of fact that if we could save all the energy which is being 
thrown away, we could run a large factory. In fact, if we run a copper wire 
from East Cambridge to Harvard Square I think there would be no difficulty 
in running the whole university press by this wasted power. 

It was a little surprise to me the way th ey attempted at first to return 
the current. Iron carries a current of electricity not as readily as copper. 
It has seven times the resistance. Now, there are girder rails that have, we 
will say, ten square inches. Some of them have as high as fourteen square 
inches, sectional area. That would have a carrying capacity equal to a piece 
of copper two inches square. And yet these rails are bonded by a No. 4 



772 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



copper wire, a wire smaller than a lead peneil. It seems quite ridiculous 
that they should ask this little bit of fine copper wire to carry as much cur- 
rent as a big rail, where they could have a piece of copper wire, as I said be- 
fore, for these big rails, of at least two square inches sectional area. 

There is another remedy also which we hope to carry out early in the 
spring, and that is to abolish completely this return wire between the rails, 
by cutting it into sections of about 400 feet, and connect each of these 
sections with return wires. Most of the current will then return by these 
copper wires. Of course some of it, as I said before, will flow over the 
water pipes. That cannot be helped as long as one side of the machine is 
connected with the earth. 

Another remedy which is to be adopted is a special line of feeders, 
attached only to the water pipes, that is, a feeder will be run from the 
central power house to the different parts of the city, which will not be 
connected with the machines at all, but will be connected with the water 
pipes at the central power house and with the pipes in all sections of the 
city. This will materially reduce the electrolytic action. 

Mr. Hazen : I would like to ask if the destruction of the pipes is en- 
tirely from the outside, or whether it is from the inside as well ? 

Mr. Morse : It is entirely from the outside, where the current leaves 
the pipe. We should have almost the same effect if there was no water in 
it. Where the current leaves the pipe, it makes little pit holes in it as big 
as the end of your finger or thumb, a little crevice which will work clear 
through the pipes. 

Mr. Hazen : Is the feric oxide left there ? 

Mr. Morse : You would be surprised to see how much is carried away, 
and just what becomes of it, I haven't been able to determine yet. 

Mr. Holden : Does it affect one kind of pipe more than another ? 

Mr. Morse : Any kind of metal pipe would be affected. A remedy 
has been tried that I think will be successful in some sections ; that is, the 
placing of the pipe in cracked stone. I think this has a decided effect. 
And, also, the placing of the pipe in cement, where the supplies go through 
muddy places, would be desirable. 

Mr. Holden : Wouldn't a cement covering answer ? 

Mr. Morse : Yes, sir ; but let me explain that we should get the flow 
of the current through a cement lined pipe, and, if the supplies were not 
covered, we should get the action on the supplies. 

Mr. Tidd : I should like to ask if those spots you speak of are rust 
spots, or holes apparently drilled into the pipe ? 

Mr. Morse : I think it is probably due, in iron pipes, to a very rapid 
oxidation of the pipe. It is quite difficult to make a deposit of iron, al- 
though it has been done repeatedly and is being done in some instances 
commercially. The effect is, however, I think, undoubtedly rapid rusting 
due to the formation of oxygen and hydrogen at the positive pole. 

Mr. Gardner: Do I understand that the return wire between the rails 
has suffered this deterioration so it has been eaten all away ? 

Mr. Morse : Yes, I have seen that in several instances. Three 
years ago, complaints came to me that in a certain section of the city, 
if a horse stepped on a rail he would be knocked down. I investigated, and 
found that the wire was reduced to almost nothing, leaving what we call a 



ELECTROLYSIS. 773 



dead rail. You can see the effect at once. If a car came in on that section, 
the current had to get back through the ground, and it would go up through 
a horse's forward legs, pass through his body, and down through his hind 
feet, and the result was a severe shock. 

Mr. Gardner : Was this a small wire ? 

Mr. Morse : About as large as a lead pencil. 

Mr. Gardner : If that wire had been large, do you think the action 
would have been the same, or was it due to the incapacity of the wire to 
conduct the current ? In other words, had the wire been large enough to 
conduct the current readily, would there have been this disintegration ? 

Mr. Morse : No, I think there would not. If the current could flow 
back over the rail and wire very easily, much easier than it could leave it 
and take to the water pipe, the amount of the electrical action would be so 
small it would have been years before we discovered it. Several months 
ago we were unable to locate grounds on our fire alarm system, and I wrote 
to the West End Company complaining of the size of their return wires, 
and last April they commenced running a return wire just to overcome that 
difficulty. 

Mr. Gardner : Wouldn't the remedy be to have a very large return ? 

Mr. Morse : Yes, that is it exactly, to have the return so large that 
there can be almost no resistance to it. The question we are considering 
now is how much current we can allow with safety on our water pipes. It 
is not possible under the present system to make it so that there will be 
absolutely no flow, and the question is, how much we can allow with safety ? 

Prof. Brown : I would like to ask Mr. Morse if it were possible to 
cover the pipes completely with a non-conducting coating, heavily coated 
with asphalt, whether there would be any deterioration ? 

Mr. Morse : If the pipes could be insulated from the soil there could 
be no action. — Fire and Water, April sg, i8pj. 



The Electrolysis of Gas Pipes. 

The effect of electric currents on gas and water pipe is attracting at- 
tention in Europe as well as America. In our issues of March iSth and 
April 8th were described some phenomena noted at Boston, Mass., and 
Indianoplis, Ind., iu connection with the gas pipes of those cities, and we 
give below an extract of a paper by M. P. Jousselin on the same subject as 
it has been developed in Paiis. The abstract is taken from a full translation 
of the paper which appeared in the Western Electrician under the title of 
" Dangers from Gas in Electrically Lighted Cities." 

Perforations of gas pipes by electrolysis have been extremely frequent 
in the last few years. They are numbered by the hundreds, and are pro- 
duced most frequently in lead pipes, though they are met with in cast- 
iron pipes. . As the leaks occur upon the public streets, the employees 
of the gas company hasten to the spot and investigate. When the pipes 
are uncovered holes are at once noted on their surface, through which 
the gas is escaping. * * * A workman looking for leaks while digging 
with a pick frequently notices that the ground liberates a certain 



774 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



amount of heat, and that the service pipe is affected electrically even 
up to the meter. At the instant that a loss of electricity occurs in the 
cable, the current takes the path of the gas system in the vicinity. The 
carbonates, or sulphates of lime, as the case may be, are decomposed by 
reason of a considerable rise of temperature, and carbonic acid or sulphuric 
acid is carried to the pipes. When this occurs in calcareous earths it is 
found that the lead at the edges of the holes is covered with carbonate of 
lead hydrate mixed with oxide of lead. The carbonate of lead causes thin- 
ning of the metal and finally produces perforation. 

When the ground contains plaster or sulphates of lime, it is noticed 
that in consequence of the more immediate action of sulphuric acid, the 
perforated hole is cleaner and presents a crater form. The edges are covered 
with a brownish powder, which analysis proves to be sulphate or sulphuret 
of lead. These effects are noticed in the cast-iron pipes, even of large di- 
ameters, and the periphery of the punctures is covered with a greenish com- 
pound which, in accordance with analysis, is ferrous sulphate, ferric sulphate 
and hydrate of ferric oxide. The reactions which cause the perforations are 
due to electricity, and are electrolytic phenomena. The action takes place 
as if in an electrolytic bath, in which one electrode is the gas pipe, the 
other the cable, and the electrolyte the soil impregnated with water fre- 
quently acidulated. 

The Edison Company, in whose district most of the trouble has occurred, 
placed its cables in Doulton's system of flat boxes with a tile cover. This 
arrangement seemed to possess every advantage, both because it was air- 
tight and it facilitated inspection. This conduit, built under the sidewalks 
in earth sufficiently dry, and with a slight grade, so that the water leaking 
in could run off, seemed excellent at first. The cables were kept in a good 
state of preservation and no damage to the neighboring gas mains was 
noticed. After a time, however, the joints sealed with cement became dis- 
placed. The cement cracked and water entered the conduit. There were 
then many contacts with the earth at the joints, and consequently losses of 
current ensued, from which the gas pipes suffered. The Edison Company 
did not hesitate to discard the Doulton system in favor of a cement conduit 
designed by M. Clerc, one of its engineers, and the system has been em- 
ployed with success on the Boulevards. These conduits, which resemble 
those used by the Electrical Transmission Company, are very small. The 
work of substitution, which has involved an expense of eighty thousand 
dollars, is now completed, and to-day, accidents caused by the distributing 
system are scarcely spoken of. 

The gas leaks caused by electrolytic phenomena have caused harm. * 
* * One case occurred on the night of June 15, 1892, when there were 
three explosions in quick succession in two Edison manholes, located in 
Rue Notre Dame de Lorette, at the corner of Rue Breda ; the first occurred 
at 10.50 P. M. The two manhole covers were thrown into the air, greatly 
frightening passers by. One woman was thrown to the ground. The covers 
were replaced about 11 o'clock, and half an hour later a second explosion 
occurred, again throwing the covers into the air. Then at 6 o'clock in the 
morning a third explosion occurred. It was doubtless gas that caused the 
explosion, for when excavations were made it was seen that the pipes had 
been punctured in proximity to the manholes. The gas escaped from the 



ELECTROLYSIS. 775 



pipes, passed through the Edison tile conduits into the manholes, where 
three differeu t times it formed with the air, an explosive mixture. — Engin- 
eering News, April 2Q, i8gj. 



The electrolysis of gas and water pipes has been investigated by a joint 
committee of the British Parliament, which recommends that in all fran- 
chises authorizing the use of heavy electric currents for other than lighting 
purposes, a clause be inserted requiring the use of insulated returns or 
uninsulated returns of low resistance. The committee further recommends 
that the matter be placed in the hands of the Board of Trade, which is to 
have the authority to inflict fines not exceeding $50, and a further penalty 
not exceeding $25 a day for a continued offence. — Engineering Record, 
August 12, zSyj. 

Report of Board of Water Commissioners, City of Saginaw, 
Mich., for Year 1892. 

One of the most serious problems that confronts this department at the 
present time is the protection of service water pipes from escaping elec- 
tricity along the line of the Saginaw Street Railway Company tracks. That 
the lead service pipes are affected by the electricity is proven by the report 
of E. Speidel, analytical chemist, to whom we referred our difficulty for 
solution. His report is as follows : 

The lead in the pipes, as you know from my report of June 4, was 
pure commercial lead, thus causing me to investigate the soil to get at the 
trouble. I have tested the submitted soils and found them to contain 
chloride of lead, showing that chlorides are acting on the lead. Where should 
the chloride come from ? I found considerable calcium and magnesium 
chloride, but no sulphate, no common salt, and but very little nitrogenous 
material — not enough to cause any decomposition from the chlorides. I 
had to give up looking for direct chemical causes. Lead is not affected by 
dilute hydrochloric acid and magnesium, and calcium chlorides do not 
touch it. 

I took your suggestion on the electric point, and following it up, I came 
to the solution of the problem, which I will try to demonstrate on the fol- 
lowing page. I have consulted the best electricians in Chicago, and I know 
I am right. " D " is the dynamo in the power house. The positive current 
runs through the trolley wire, through the car motor, through the track, 
back to the dynamo. In electrical work the ground connection is usually 
made by attaching the ground wires to the water pipes (main), so the lead 
service pipe is connected indirectly with the power house. Now, if the 
joints are not well made (between the rails) the electric current leaks out 
and takes the easiest path to the dynamo, which in this case is the lead ser- 
vice pipe. When the spark enters the pipe it strikes the lead like a small 
or a number of small lightnings, causing the lead to oxidize, which at the 
same time combining with chlorine liberated by the electrically-decomposed 
chloride, forms chloride of lead. This action, corroding the lead pipe, is 
strongest where the pipe runs parallel to the car track ; at right angles the 
chances are not so numerous for the spark to catch the pipe. 



776 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



There are two remedies for this trouble. One would be that the car 
people should look into these points and not lose so much electricity, and 
the second one is to coat your lead pipe with some non-conducting sub- 
stance—that is, paint them over with tar, asphaltum, or something of that 
nature. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



A Volunteer Paper Read by Peter Milne, Hydraulic Engineer, 
. at the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the American 
Water Works Association, Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 5, 1893. 

In a general sense this word is compound ; it means the decomposition 
of metals by the action of electricity. It is a word used also to express the 
action or process of the oxidation of metals by natural law. * *- * Since 
the introduction of the telegraph and telephone systems of transmission by 
electricity, electrolysis is the primary element used to furnish the energy to 
produce the power required. The process of electrolysis is either produced 
by acid batteries or friction dynamos. * * * Electrolysis as a principal 
or agent did not begin to act to the detriment of commercial or financial 
success until the introduction of electricity for lighting purposes. Experi- 
mentally it was found that the potential or power generated at the station, 
if in excess of what was required for the transmission and light, would de- 
compose, burn up or destroy the agents of conductivity, or else seek its 
affinity some other way in order to balance the excess of energy generated 
at the dynamo station. * * * Coming now to the question of electrolysis 
of submerged iron, gas and water mains, we will admit the process of elec- 
trolysis by natural law, as found in the gradual deterioration of metal in the 
earth under the action of the magnetic elements contained therein, and 
found in the gas that passes through the gas main, and also found in the 
water that passes through the water main. * * * It certainly never was 
intended that gas and water mains should be used for any such purpose. * * 

It is the experience of .water works companies in quite a number of 
places that, since the introduction of electric power upon street railways, 
electrolysis prevails to an extent more or less damaging, according to struc- 
tural conditions in lead and iron water pipes (known as service pipes). * * 
* I have as yet to learn of anything being done by electricians in the way 
of avoiding the trouble. I do not believe that electricians are ignoring the 
question. I do believe it is possible and practical to largely, if not alto- 
gether, overcome the difficulty. As herein mentioned, we know the perish- 
able nature of metals buried in the earth, and are familiar with dame 
nature's method of reducing, by natural chemical equivalents stored in her 
laboratory, all things to their original state. It would seem, in view of 
these facts, and with the experience and knowledge of water works men 
before their observations, that electricians would cease using iron and brass 
pipe conduits, creosote plank boxes, lined inside and outside with all man- 
ner of perishable and expensive ingredients, and resort to an earthenware 
conduit, properly glazed and jointed, made sectional, lengthwise for positive 
and negative wires, insulated and isolated. I know of nothing that will 
compare for durability with a vitrified salt glazed conduit. * * * I have 



ELECTROLYSIS. 777 



not heard that electrolysis may effect it, or that it is an electrode or elec- 
trolyte. * * * 

The report of the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of Saginaw, 
Mich. , contains an interesting report upon ' ' Electrolysis of Lead Service 
Pipes," by Ernest Spiedel, analytical chemist of Chicago. His observations 
and investigations, however, lead us to conclude that the electric traction 
railways have no underground wnre between their tracks, the result being 
that the rail tracks are used exclusively for conductivity, and when they are 
charged in excess of their ability to perform the work of returning the cur- 
rent to the power station, the surplus takes to the earth, using the iron 
water mains, thence the lead service pipes attached thereto as conductors. 
The subject was briefly considered by the Editor of Fire and Water, in a 
paper read at the American Water Works Convention held in Milwaukee. 
We are of the opinion that municipal legislation, similar to what has 
recently been desired by the London Board of Trade and a Committee of 
Parliament, will be necessary in order to afford proper protection to gas 
and water mains and their connections where electric railways are in opera- 
tion. Economic considerations may deter electric railway plants from 
properly securing the property of others from the action of electrolysis. 
The time, however, is at hand when they must show, without regard to the 
expense involved, that they are willing to make liberal use of the means at 
hand, even though it is not all that is desirable, in order to preserve water 
mains and water services intact from the influences of the electric current. — 
Fire and Water, October 14, 1893. 



Return Circuits and Electrolysis. 

The matter of the electrolysis of pipes and cables by the return cur- 
rents of electrical railways is probably destined to play such an important 
role within a few years, if steps to prevent it are not taken, that an outline 
of our definite knowledge on the subject is given in another column. The 
whole question is, of course, dependent on the return circuits of the elec- 
tric railways, for if these are of such conductivity that the current will 
return through them to the power station, then there will be no wandering 
electricity to get into the pipes of the water works or gas plant and give the 
unfortunate manager several uneasy hours of investigation. If the electric 
railway managers can be convinced that the remedy for this electrolysis lies 
in their power and will actually be to their advantage to apply, then the 
matter will be in a fair process of solution. * * * The conclusions 
reached by The Engineering Record some time ago are given in another 
column. From these it will be seen that railways on a large scale are now 
in operation which are provided with return circuits such as we believe will 
largely reduce electrolysis, and the much better return circuits of such 
roads was provided at a less cost than the hitherto adopted practice. It is 
now the general custom to connect the ends of rails with bonds and to con- 
nect the rails with a wire or wires running back to or nearly to the power 
station and placed between each pair of rails. Theoretically, the current is 
supposed to return through these wires and bonded rails, but, practically, 



778 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the resistance of the metal circuit is so much less than the resistance of the 
earth, that as soon as the earth becomes a trifle damp the electricity deserts 
the roadway and passes through the earth to the excellent circuit provided 
by the water and gas mains or the lead covering of the telophone cables ; 
traveling along these conductors until there is a better conductor elsewhere, 
when it goes to that conductor and leaves as a mark of its presence a little 
pit in the metal at the point of departure. The trouble is that the return 
circuit through the track does not have the conductivity of the earth and 
pipe circuits. The return circuit can be given an excellent conducting 
capacity, however, if the method now followed on the Atlantic Avenue 
Railway in Brooklyn is adopted. Here, special advantage of the conduc- 
tivity of the rails is taken by the Engineer, Thomas J. McTighe. A 70- 
pound rail is used, so that the area of the four rails in the track is prac- 
tically 28 square inches, which has the conductivity of 4% square inches 
of copper. Track with such rails and under similar conditions of usage 
has generally been laid with No. 4 copper bonds and two No. 2 copper sup- 
plementary wires. On the Atlantic Avenue Railway this construction has 
been abandoned, and a return circuit of 4^2 times the conductivity obtained 
at one-fifth the cost by using No. o bonds and no supplementary wires. 
That is to say, the destructive electric return current has four and one- 
half times the facilities to return in a proper manner provided at one-fifth 
the cost of the old ineffectual method, and if the improved conductivity is 
not enough it can be greatly increased at a comparatively small expense, 
making the total cost less than the method of supplementary wires. In a 
future Lssue will be given an abstract of a valuable paper on this subject, 
going more fully into details. — Engineering Record, October ij, 1893. 



RUIN TO ALU PIPES. 



Trolley Dangerous Underground. — Escaping Currents found to 
be Speedily Destructive to Metal Gas and Water Mains. — 
Inspector McDevitt of Philadelphia Investigates the Cause. 

A new danger threatening Philadelphia and every other city in the 
Union in which trolley cars are run is just now occupying the attention of 
local engineers. It is claimed that the effect of the trolley on the streets 
will be the speedy destruction of all underground metal pipes, imperiling 
the water and gas systems and causing enormous expense to the taxpayers. 
William McDevitt is electrical engineer and inspector of the Philadelphia 
Fire Underwriters and for the Philadelphia Fire Patrol. 

As a practical expert in electrical work he is regarded as one of the best. 
He has studied the various systems in use in this country and abroad, and 
in pursuing his investigations he has visited every large city in America 
and Europe. Upon Mr. McDevitt's return from his last trip, he made a 
careful report of his observations of underground electrical currents upon 
gas and water systems. According to his report, the great network of under- 
ground pipes upon which every town depends for its water was threatened 
with destruction by subterranean electricity. 

In explaining the escape of electric currents from the trolley rails, Mr. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 779 



McDevitt said : " The wires by which the trolley cars are run are charged 
by electricity of 500 volts. That is what is termed high tension, 150 volts 
being low tension, and the strength of the current used varying between 
these two extremes. If you will notice the laying of tracks you will see 
that where the rails are joined they are riveted with iron plates, and after 
that they are wired together. Notwithstanding these double precautions, 
however, it is not long before the expansion and contraction impair 
the connection between the rails, and a portion of the electricity 
escapes into the ground. The ground is a very good conductor, and the 
electric current that escapes into it is, therefore, carried along. Wet ground 
is a better conductor than dry. The current will run along one stratum of 
made ground until it nears a stratum of earth that is more dry, when it will 
turn from it and jump into the underground pipes used to convey our supply 
of water and gas. Now, what is called "electrolysis" takes place. This 
action is similar to corrosion, but more speedy in its action, and it is only 
a question of time when the pipes must go. The time it takes to eat up 
and destroy the pipes varies, of course, but a year is sufficient to do the 
damage. I found such to be the case in Boston. You will see the same 
result in Philadelphia, for the pipes will invariably give way, entailing 
enormous expense in continuous repairs." — Chicago Herald, Febntaiy 19, 
1894. 



UNDERGROUND CURRENTS. 

A SUBJECT WITH WHICH THE ELECTRIC LINES WILL HAVE TO GRAPPLE 
— ACTION OF STREE7T RAILWAY CURRENTS ON GAS AND WATER 
PIPES — A QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST DISCUSSED BEFORE THE 
ELECTRIC CLUB. 

Electrolysis was the subject of a very interesting paper read before the 
Electric Club Saturday night by H. H. Humphrey. The word means liter- 
ally the separation of a liquid into its elements by the passage of an elec- 
tric current. For instance, acidulated water is separated into oxygen and 
hydrogen by a current passed through it between platinum electrodes. The 
oxygen collects at the positive, the hydrogen at the negative pole. Sus- 
pend copper plates in a solution of copper sulphate and pass a current be- 
tween them, and the copper is dissolved from the positive and added to the 
negative pole. 

In general all liquids which conduct, except the molten metals, are 
electrolyzed by the passage of a current sufficiently strong. 

Mr. Humphrey began by saying these fundamental principles have 
been so well understood that they have been overlooked in street railway 
work. He proposed to discuss the electrolytic action of the street railway 
currents upon gas and water pipes. 

Almost the first electric railroad of any magnitude had brought in ques- 
tion the popular belief that the earth, which with the rails was used as a re- 
turn circuit, had practically no resistance. The famous Richmond road 
proved that the earth had considerable resistance when subjected to the 
heavy currents of street railway work. The next step toward improving the 
circuit was by bonding the rails, sometimes with iron bonds, sometimes by 



780 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



copper connected to the rails by driving an iron channel pin by the side of 
the bond wire. This often proved unsatisfactory, and an iron copper sup- 
plementary wire was laid by the side of the rail to assist in carrying the cur- 
rent. This improved the bonding and carried the current past any bad 
breaks or loose joints in the track circuit without materially increasing its 
conductivity. With au electric return circuit constructed in this way par- 
alleling water mains and gas mains lying only a few feet apart, and separ- 
ated by earth containing more or less moisture, of comparatively low resist- 
ance, is it any wonder that the pipes carried a great share of the current ? 

Electricity always divides through different circuits inversely as their 
resistance. Admitting that the pipes will get their share of the current, 
what will be the effect on them ? Where the current enters the pipe no 
action can be detected, and through the body of the pipe, if the joints are 
tight, there is no apparent action. Where the current leaves the pipe to 
reach the station, or the negative pole of the generator, the electric action is 
apparent. The metal is dissolved or eaten away. The pipes are the posi- 
tive poles of the electrolytic cell, the moisture of the earth electrolite and 
the negative pole is at the station where the generator is grounded. 

Certain acids in the soil increase electrolytic action. Chlorides from 
salt works and salt used in melting snow, sulphuric acid and also the pres- 
ence of illuminating gas greatly facilitate this action. 

The destruction of the pipes is caused partly by the metal being dis- 
solved and partly by the formation of oxygen and oxone at the positive pole 
by the decomposition of water, which rusts and corrodes the metal badly. 
This electrolytic action has become quite serious in Boston and other large 
cities. 

The courts have not yet been called upon to decide whether the street 
railway companies have a right to use the gas and water pipes in this way, 
and by using them use them up. 

Turning his attention to a remedy for the evil, Mr. Humphrey declares 
that it is not practicable to insulate either the rails in surface roads or the 
gas or water pipes. The latter has been tried in Los Angeles by laying the 
pipes in conduits of sawdust. 

Since electrolysis takes effect only when the current leaves the pipe, 
why not make a connection from your dynamo to the gas and water mains 
and also from the track at frequent intervals to the gas and water mains ? 
This might remedy the evil entirely, provided the joints were tight and the 
pipes followed the railway tracks. But with gas pipes it is said to be prac- 
tically impossible to preserve perfect joints. With loose ones the electric 
current would soon play speedy havoc. 

In cases of excessive moisture, with the main pipes at some distance 
from the path of the current, there would be a tendency for the current to 
leave the pipes and re-enter them again, setting up the destructive action 
at the point of leaving. 

The use of supplementary wires, except in the light of additional bond- 
ing, seems to be a mistaken idea. A double track of 50-pound rails equals 
in conductivity y/ 2 square inches of copper. A double track of 90-pound 
rails is equal to 6 square inches of copper. Such being the case, it would be 
ridiculous to run with them medium -sized supplementary wires for the pur- 
pose of increasing their conductivity. Let us take a system with the rails 



ELECTROLYSIS. 781 



bonded with medium-sized wires with a system of deep ground plates. 
The return current will divide itself between the rails, the ground and the 
pipes, inversely as their resistance. The rails will probably carry the most 
current. Tests made at Chester, Pennsylvania, show that the track and 
supplementary wire carried 2S5.5 amperes ; city water mains, 12.8 amperes, 
and the ground plate, 5-ioths amperes. 

These results show effectively the insufficiency of ground plates and the 
important part played by the track circuit in returning to the station the 
enormous current which propels the cars. Let us suppose we have the rails 
thoroughly bonded, with rail bonds equal in conductivity to the rails them- 
selves, and suppose we have these rails welded into one continuous length. 
This conductivity would equal an amount of copper greater than is em- 
ployed in any overhead circuit in this city. This conductivity ought to 
provide a sufficient return to protect the pipes, but the main question is, 
will it fully prevent their deterioration ? 

Authorities agree that very little current will, after a time, produce very 
marked electrolytic effect, To come back to the law that electricity will 
divide through different currents in proportion to their conductivity. A. 
6-inch water and gas pipe, omitting poor joints, about equals a 56-pound 
rail in conductivity. A 12-inch water pipe and a 12-inch gas pipe running 
parallel to a double track of 70-pound rails will carry half the current if the 
earth between offers no resistance. But the earth does offer resistance, 
especially in dry or frozen weather. 

It has been suggested that the three-wire system for street railways 
would solve this problem. In the case of large, double track roads, the 
method looks feasible, by using the trolley over each track as an outside 
wire, and making the tracks the neutral wire, thus getting a working poten- 
tial of a 1,000 volts for distribution. There are some mechanical difficulties 
in the way of such system. Besides, it would not entirely eliminate the 
rails and earth from the return circuit. 

The fact that the traffic is nearly all one way in the morning and nearly 
all the other way in the evening, would throw such a system badly out of 
balance. In each case the flow would be continuous in one direction long 
enough to produce severe electrolytic action which the reversal of the current 
would not correct. 

The next best system would be the insulated track feeders laid either 
underground or overhead, designed to carry the entire current, the rail being 
used from one feeder to the next. This has been tried with some success. 
It is very expensive, however. In this system the only place wdiere the 
current has a tendency to take to the ground is between the junction points 
of the feeders with the tracks. It escapes again at the feeder intersections, 
where electrolysis doubtless takes place, but in a modified form. 

These track feeders should be run from the station to the rails at prede- 
termined points, and each feeder calculated to give a specified drop with 
the load the}^ expect to carry. The generator is not grounded. If the 
negative pole of the generator is also grounded at the station, it will result in 
wasting the effect of the track feeders and call upon the rails and the earth 
to carry their share of the current, which they would do by shunting the 
circuit around the track feeders. 

The use of an alternating current on a single trolley system with rail 



782 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



return might be mentioned. This has not been introduced, principally 
because of the defects in alternating motors, but with the present prospects 
of development it is not too much to predict that alternating currents will 
yet be used. 

The paper went on to say that the writer, after considerable research, 
had come to the conclusion that the only complete solution of the problem 
was the rejection of the rail and ground as a part of the return circuit. The 
double overhead trolley system will entirely obviate the electrolysis of 
gas and water pipes. The double underground trolley which is in operation 
in Chicago, is a similar and equally good solution of the problem. 

The underground system is destined, the writer thinks, to become more 
popular. It will be looked upon with more interest by street railway people 
as soon as their overhead structures begin to deteriorate sufficiently to 
require their renewal. No less an authority than Prof. W. H. Preece says 
that the future working must be metallic circuits and underground conduits. 



The Fire and Water, of March, 1894, prints the following 
letter from John M. Goodell, of Worcester, Mass. : 

In the interesting description of the Marseilles and St. Louis Electric 
Railway, Dr. Preller mentions the danger of electrically corroding under- 
ground pipes and cables by driving the current through the rails, wheels, 
car-wiring, trolley connections and overhead wire, rather than in the more 
used overhead wire to rail order. We have an experience with such a 
method of operation in Cambridge, Mass., one of the suburbs of Boston. 
There the wire, pipes, and house connections in the earth disappeared in a 
remarkably short time, and the tramway company was forced to reverse the 
direction of its currents in consequence. 

Even when the current is sent out from the power stations through the 
overhead wires, we are having considerable difficulty with electrolysis. In 
Boston and Brooklyn the trouble has generally been with the lead covering 
of the telephone wires, although in the latter city the water pipes are also 
affected. In Trenton, N. J., Columbus, O., Saginaw and Sault Ste. Marie, 
Mich , Milwaukee, Wis., Los Angeles, Cal., and Hamilton, Ont., electrolysis 
of water pipes, both lead and iron, has been observed, and in most of the 
cities the officers of the water department or of the railway have kindly 
sent me careful descriptions of the corroded pipe, and such local conditions 
as enable an opinion to be formed as to the nature of the corrosion. It 
seems perfectly certain to me that 

Electrolysis Occurs as Follows : 

The return current through the rails and supplementary wires, if the 
latter are employed, reaches some point where the earth and the pipes em- 
bedded in it have less resistance than the metal circuit. Consequently the 
electricity follows along the pipe until the rails again offer a better path, 
when it returns to its theoretical path. From correspondence and personal 
observation of the effect of this fickle behavior of the return circuit, I am 
pretty certain that the electrolysis occurs at the points where the current 



ELECTROLYSIS. 783 



leaves the pipes to return to the rail circuit, as might naturally be expected. 
The effect of the current is, first to eat a series of little cavities in the sur- 
face of the pipe, which gradually enlarge until the metal maybe completely 
destroyed around the entire circumference. A remedy that I have known 
to be applied successfully in a number of cases was to connect the pipes 
where corrosion was noticed with the rails of the tramway, so as to have a 
complete metal circuit. The leading remedy is one which the railways are 
slowly adopting as a matter of economy. Without any reference to the 
wants of the water works, telephone or gas engineer, viz., the better bond" 
ing of the rails. The connection illustrated by Dr. Preller on page 499 is 
not considered the best practice in this country to-day, although it was two 
years ago, when good bonding was not regarded as so important as now. 
In the single track illustrated, the cross section of the two rails is about 10.S 
square inches, which is equivalent in conductivity to 1.6 square inches of 
copper, speaking approximately. To bond this single track, there are two 
copper and two iron wires, each 7 millimeters in diameter, which have a 
total conductivity of about 0.14 square inch of copper. That is to say, the 
conductivity of the bond is only about a tenth of that of the rails. In this 
country we are now making the bonds heavier; and thus try to prevent the 
watts from straggling on their return home. 

John. M. Goodell. 



Gas Men on Electrolysis. 

At a meeting of the Western Gas Association, held last month at Cleve- 
land, Ohio, the Committee on Electrolysis made a lengthy report, and 
summarized its findings as follows : 

First. — Electrolysis, from the grounded currents of electric currents of 
electric roads, is rapidly injuring gas and water pipes, and it is admitted 
by street railway people that the injury does proceed from their operations. 

Second. — Complete relief from its action cannot be reached by any 
device applicable by those injured, but is attainable by certain changes in 
the electric railways. 

Third. — The gas and water interest should unite in demands for 
remedial measures which shall secure the adoption of systems undoubtedly 
effective, and which will thereby avoid a revival of the question a few years 
hence. 

Fourth. — Pending the discussion or completion of the relieving 
systems, the pipes should be protected at exposed points, at which the 
policy of increasing the resistance by insulation should be followed, rather 
than of increasing the conductivity by wiring. — Industrial World, June 14, 
1894. 



Electrolysis in France. 

A foreign contemporary, says Mr. Claude, has prepared an extended 
article, which has been published in the Industrie Electrique, on the cor- 
rosion of gas and water pipes by the action of electric current. The holes 
produced are sometimes more than 0.4 inch in length, being chinks lying 



784 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



lengthwise along the pipes ; and at the same time the cables are surrounded 
by a quantity of potash and soda salts weighing several pounds, and the 
cables themselves are also attacked. This phenomenon is now familiar all 
over Paris. In an iron main of 8 inches diameter, there were, for instance, a 
dozen holes from 0.24 inch to 0.32 inch deep by 0.04 inch to 0.12 inch in 
diameter, in a length of 16 inches of pipe. Water pipes, have as yet, been 
less attacked, mainly because they are better protected. The pipes are 
often attacked where an earth current comes across them, though they may 
be far from the cables themselves. After the explosion in the Rue Notre - 
Dame-de-Lorette, it was found that 52 service pipes had been perforated in 
this way. It appears that the insulation, if not scrupulously attended to, 
goes on deteriorating, if the cable be bare, or if its coating is any respect de- 
fective. The small quantities of alkaline matters, produced by electrolysis, 
get at the core of the cable, and a local couple is set up, while the insulation 
thereafter goes rapidly on from bad to worse. The voltage of that couple is 
about one volt. 

Then the clay pipes, under the continuous passage of a small current, 
become decomposed ; alkaline matters pass through them, and they become 
more conductive, while they become filled with alkaline material. The 
cable is then strongly affected, and the current goes up even as high as 13 
to 15 amperes, while the ground becomes hot for some distance round, and 
may even smoke. The alkaline material is found to contain soda, carbonate 
of soda, potash, carbonate of potash, and lead, with a considerable quantity 
of copper, lime and alumina, and traces of iron and silica. The alkalies 
come from the earth, aided by the salt charged water percolating from the 
surface ; the alumina, lime and silica from the earth ; the lead, or, in par- 
ticular instances, instead of lead, the iron, has traveled with the current 
from the pipes attacked. All the phenomena observed have been artificially 
reproduced, while in the experiments sparks have been observed in the 
alkaline deposit, possibly due to the combustion of sodium electrolytically 
separated by the current. It appears that when any common salt, say, is 
decomposed by the current, the chlorine liberated attacks the lead to which 
it travels, and forms chloride of lead ; that this chloride of lead is thereupon 
decomposed by the current, and the lead, set free, travels with the current 
toward the cable, while the chlorine again attacks the lead pipe, there being 
thus only a small quantity of lead chloride round the pipe at one time. 
This can be imitated by electrolyzing salt water with a lead positive electrode 
and a very slow current. The evil would be greatly obviated by bringing 
the gas pipes to the same high potential as the negative cable, by establish- 
ing a good metallic connection through a high resistance. Any corrosion 
would then take place in the positive cables ; but this would be due to 
defective insulation of that cable, which would be the electrician's lookout ; 
while, if that did occur, the gas pipes would then have the alkaline deposits 
round them, which would not do as much harm as nascent chlorine, 
Alternating currents do not work this electrolytic mischief. — Fire and Water, 
March 17, /S94. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 785 



THE RETURN CIRCUIT OF AN ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAY. 

A Paper Read Before the Wisconsin Eeectric Ceub, by O. M. Rau, 
Eeectricae Engineer, Miewaukee Street Railway Company. 

The subject of a return circuit for an electric railway system has been 
the cause of much discussion, both in journals and lectures. The prevail- 
ing opinion formed from these discussions, is that the return circuit is insuf- 
ficient, and that innumerable troubles can be avoided by increasing the 
return circuit. Hence, the question arises, will this ever be made large 
enough? The main object of ground return is to have as small a loss as 
possible, so as to avoid the troubles which are attributed to this part of a 
railway system. An excessive drop of potential in the return circuit, not 
only gives poor results in the operation of cars, but greatly facilitates the 
electrolytic action on surrounding metallic bodies, which has given much 
anxiety to both electricians and city engineers. The ground has been relied 
on as a conductor, but to what extent or percentage this medium acted as 
such has until lately not been considered ; and even at this late date it is 
proposed to use the earth through the medium of ground plates, placed at 
regular intervals along the track, and sunk into the earth to a depth where 
permanent dampness can be found. To demonstrate the usefulness of these 
plates, an incident connected with the railway system in this city will 
afford a good example. The bridge cable became parted by accident, caus- 
ing the current to the bridge to be cut off. To avoid delay it was proposed to 
sink a ground connection at the edge of the river, and another at the 
bridge, and derive a current in this way to operate the cars and bridge motor. 
Car wheels, to which were attached a oooo copper wire, were sunk to the 
bottom of the river, at a distance of 150 feet from each other, but it was 
found that a current not exceeding 20 amperes was all that could be obtained 
through the circuit. Hence, that amount being barely sufficient to operate 
the draw-bridge motor, the project had to be abandoned and a temporary 
metallic conductor laid until the cable was repaired. Considering these 
conditions, where every possible advantage for a ground connection was at 
hand, it is very evident that the ground plates add very little to the return 
circuit of a street railway system. To increase the return circuit, so that the 
loss would be very small, would considerably increase the cost of construc- 
tion, and it is here where the great trouble lies. It must be admitted that the 
cost of a good return is certainly very great in the construction of a railway 
plant, but it is, however, only a simple matter to calculate how long the 
plant will be in operation before the ground return circuit will pay for itself 
in the saving it has made. This fact is often lost sight of, while it should be 
the primary consideration for constructing engineers. 

In some of the earliest electric roads the ground was omitted entirely as 
a conducting medium, and a return circuit was calculated for a certain drop 
and the conductor laid accordingly. 

In the electrical equipment of one of those roads, each length of track 
was connected to this conductor (which was of copper) and the bonding, 
which was not very thoroughly carried out, was only relied on as a substi- 
tute. This, although a very expensive construction, proves that the ground 
return was considered as important, by early electricians, as any other parts 
of the system. It is only through the saving in the cost of construction that 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



this part of the system has brought itself so conspicuously before the public. 
With the supply feeder it is a simple question of how much drop to allow 
for, and calculate the size of the conductors accordingly, and the amount 
allowable for this drop is readily ascertained by comparing the amount to be 
used in this part of the system, and the amount the system, while operat- 
ing, can afford to lose, which is directly dependent on the cost of generat- 
ing power, but we have a basis upon which accurate figures can be made and 
we can determine what is going on in this part of the system. In the ground 
return it is an entirely approximate figure, and in but few roads is it taken 
into consideration at all ; it being simply stated that there is no drop in the 
return circuit. Since it is a very complicated and difficult matter to arrive 
at accurately, either by calculation or test, this statement is generally 
accepted. The return circuit being in the ground escapes the usual 
inspection which the other parts of the system are subjected to, and any 
defects which otherwise would be noticed are left to take care of themselves, 
except when complaints are received from drivers of vehicles whose horses 
have received shocks ; a broken bond or a defect in the return circuit would 
not be discovered and would receive no attention. During the winter the 
defective spots on the return circuit are quite easily located, when a faulty rail 
bond will keep the snow and ice from forming around the joint and a damp 
spot will there be found while the earth will be frozen around it. A system of 
bonding where the bond will have the same conducting area as the rail is suffi- 
cient with the present heavy rail construction. In a system, however, where 
a number of independent lines are constructed, radiating from one or two 
main lines this is not advisable, even if the rail bonds and rails have capac- 
ity enough to carry the current with a low percentage of loss. Tracks have 
to be torn up and repaired and in some cases left out for a length of time. 
To have the return entirely dependent on them would cause inconvenience 
to the repair work as well as an occasional stop on the system. This, of 
course, could be avoided if care is taken and the tracks cross-bonded with 
the up and down tracks, as both are rarely disturbed at one time. 

If, however, repairing is done near the power house, where the ground 
connection is made with the station generators, it is a question whether the 
carrying capacity of the undisturbed rails is large enough. When such condi- 
tions arise, the advantage of return feeders laid to different distributing centers 
can hardly be discarded. A system thus constructed will not be subject to 
the criticism of the daily papers, by their reports of runaways caused by a 
charged rail, and it would assuredly be a great friend to the horses. 

This has been very forcibly brought to my notice in this city, where we 
have both systems of ground return. When out driving the horse will cross 
the return feeder system track very gently, but when he comes to the tracks 
dependent alone on the bonding for return, he will try to avoid stepping on 
them, or race across at a Maud S. pace. 

Whether the horse is an expert on bonding I do not know, but it is evi- 
dent that he does not desire to be the medium for increasing the return. 
Where a return feeder is used, it is almost impossible to shock a horse while 
crossing the tracks, as they are fed two ways. A broken bond will not open 
the circuit. 

The size or amount of these return feeders is an approximate calcula- 
tion at best, but by using good judgment for their distributing centers, and 



ELECTROLYSIS. 787 



considering the number of cars liable to be in the vicinity of these centers 
at one time, a fairly accurate size can be determined on. By allowing a drop 
of 25 per cent, in these feeders (not including the rail), a very efficient 
return circuit is obtained if the track is carefully bonded. Although, as I 
have already shown, the return feeder will be very expensive as an outlay at 
first, yet I have no hesitation in saying that it will more than pay for itself 
in the saving in the coal pile, besides giving satisfactory results in the opera- 
tion of the road. The deterioration of the ground feeder, or supplementary 
wire, as it is sometimes called, is brought in as an argument against them, 
but if properly laid, there is no reason for any anxiety from this cause. A 
very durable plan for laying these feeders is to lay the bare copper wire in a 
piece of grooved lumber, the groove being considerably larger than the 
wire. The end of the lumber should be cut at a sharp angle, so the joints 
will overlap and allow for a nail to be driven in them to hold them firmly. 
The groove is then filled with a mixture of tar and pitch, at a ratio of eight 
barrels of pitch to one of tar. This mixture is pliable, and expands and con- 
tracts enough with the changes of the atmosphere and prevents dampness from 
the copper wire. A wood cover is nailed over the top of the groove after 
being filled. The trench in which the return feeder is laid is about one foot 
deep, and is run near the inside rail. The distribution of the return current 
is also much more complete by a system of this kind. 

The track near the power house is as little overloaded as that a mile 
away, as the current is taken from the track by the feeders and returned 
through them to the station. The street railway in this city has the advan- 
tage of an excellent return feeder, that is giving very satisfactory results, 
notwithstanding the difficulties encountered in the opening of streets and 
constructing of sewers through the lines of the railway, besides having numer- 
ous draw-bridges and the power house located some distance from any of 
its lines. 

The tracks are mostly heavy girder rails, which are securely bonded 
with bonds of 5-16 inch iron wire. This plan of bonding was specified in 
the construction contract and carried out accordinglv. The bond used in 
this construction is perhaps worthy of a little explanation. It consists of a 
piece of iron wire, bent at right angles at each end. The length of the 
bond head is sufficient to allow for a washer, with a groove on one side to 
fit the main part of the bond, and to go through the web of the rail. The 
washer lies against the rail, forming a shoulder, so that when the bond is 
riveted to the rail, it makes a solid joint. Although the bond consists of 
three pieces, electrically it is only one. These bonds are at every fourth 
joint cross-bonded to the four rails of a double track road. The cross-con- 
nections consist of y% inch iron cable. The system of bonding is carried out 
throughout the entire system. 

The tracks nearest to the front of the station are connected to the ground 
bus bar in the power house with a 500,000 circular mil cable, and those near- 
est the rear of the station with a cable of the same area, which crosses the 
river. Besides these there are six return feeders of 0000 copper wire also 
connected to this bus bar. There feeders extend to six different centers of 
distribution, where they are connected at intervals of 200 feet to the track 
which they are intended to feed. By this means there are eight independent 
returns to the station. The most important part of the ground return sys- 



788 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 





tern is the manner of making connections to water 
mains, and it is to this important feature of this 
system that this paper was first intended. 

Electrolysis has caused a great deal of trouble 
between city engineers and electric railways on 
account of the injury done to city water mains, 
and as city engineers have placed the responsibility 
on the railway company, it is apparent that some- 
thing should be done to avoid this action. Here 
comes the question : Can enough ground return 
be laid so as to avoid this action ? I have a few 
photographs of pipes taken out from the city water 
mains. Number i was taken from a point in the 
street about 200 feet from the power house. The 
railway near which this pipe was had been in 
operation four years before the pipe was taken out. 
The rails were bonded Number 4 copper wire, and 
a Number o copper supplemental wire was laid 
between the rails, and not being protected in any 
way it became so badly corroded as to render it 
almost useless. Number 2 shows where a connec- 
tion was made to the water main with a piece of 
copper wire. Between this wire and the pipe a 
wedge was driven to tighten the wire to the pipe, 
then on raising the wire a distance from the pipe, 
on one side the action took place between the 
wire and the pipe, thus eating it away as shown. 

It is apparent that as long as there is a con- 
ducting medium in close proximity to the track, 
which is of a comparative resistance to that of the 
track or return circuit, a portion of the current in 
the track w T ill flow into this conductor unless it is 
insulated from the return circuit ; and as this is 
impossible, the portion of current carried by this 
conductor is in proportion as the combined resist- 
ance of the connecting medium and conductor is 
to the return circuit. 

Although it is almost impossible to measure 
these quantities, we can for example take a track 
having a resistance of 10 ohms and the water pipe 
which is at an approximate figure of 10 ohms; slip 
the eloctrolyte or conducting medium between the 
track and pipes at 190 ohms and the current 
carried by the pipe will be as 10 is to 200 or 1-20, 
and if the current is 100 amperes the pipe will carry 
5. The electrolytic action of 5 amperes of cur- 
rent on an iron pipe in favorable soil is considerable, and this is not an 
extreme case. That the resistance from the track to the water pipe in some 
cases is very low is undoubtable, and as it is not an equal resistance through 
its entire length is the detrimental point. If there were a leakage from the 




Electrolysis at Milwaukee. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 789 



rail to the pipe on its entire length we would not hear from this trouble for 
years to come : but as it is accruing in one place more than another, it 
decomposes the iron at that point more rapidly. It is apparent that the 
place where the current leaves the track to go to the water pipe will show 
no signs of electrolytic action, but as the pipe has the current it will leave it 
at some distant point and it is at this point that the pipe is affected. This is 
generally near the power house or where the least resistance is offered to 
the passage of the current in the pipe to the ground bus at the station. 

To overcome this it is necessary to insulate the pipe from all possible 
grounds which are apt to form an approximate low resistance, so as to have 
a universal leakage from the track to the water pipe, or connect the water 
pipe to the track so as to have no difference of resistance between them, or 
the ground bus at the station. By this latter means the current will form 
no electrolytic action at any one place more than another, nor in fact at any 
place at all. The current will be conducted to and from the pipe through 
conductors and not through an electrolyte, thus avoiding all possible decom- 
position by the current. This plan is at present in vogue on the railway 
system in this city and it met the approval of the city engineers after much 
investigation, careful research and consideration. A very careful record is 
being kept to prove the success of this system. To the forty miles of road 
there are sixty water main connections made with iron clamps thoroughly 
cleaned inside and the pipe is filed smoothly where the clamp comes in con- 
tact with it. Bolted to the clamp is a lug to which is soldered the 
connecting cable which runs to the four tracks. The clamp and pipe are 
thoroughly painted with a water proof paint to prevent corroding. This 
joint after being laid one year has proven to be as good as when first made. 
To insure a perfect connection to the ground bus in the station a 500,000 
circular mil cable is connected to the large 10-inch water main in front of 
the station and a similar cable crosses the river and is connected to a 12-inch 
main on the opposite side of the river. 

In experimenting before the water pipe connections were made I found 
that a wire connected from the water pipe in the station to the ground bus 
gave quite a spark, and on applying an ammeter it registered from 3 to 6 
per cent of the total load of the station on a dry day, and on a wet day as 
high as 10 per cent. This plan of connecting the water pipe throughout the 
city with the tracks, and having a good return connection from them to the 
station bus bar, not only insures the city against any deterioration of the 
water pipes, but increases the ground return very materially, and in tests 
made on the railway plant in this city I find that 28 per cent, of the total 
output is returned by the water mains, and this percentage remains constant 
during damp and dry weather, which proves that there is no leak of the 
current to the pipe through the improved conductivity of the earth. This 
increase in the return circuit represents an investment of$S, 000.00 on return 
feeders and increase in the return of 28 per cent., which is a very important 
factor in the operating expenses of an electric railway, and as far as present 
indications show avoids any further electrolytic action. — Street Railway 
Review, Dec, 'pj. 



790 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Following is a paper presented at the 86th meeting of the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers, New York, April 
18th, and at Chicago, April 25th, 1894 : 

DESTRUCTIVE EFEECT OF ELECTRICAL CURRENTS ON 
SUBTERRANEAN METAL PIPES. 

BY ISAIAH H. FARNHAM. 

For the past year or more there have been read before water, gas and 
electrical engineering societies all over this country papers on the subject 
of electrolytic corrosion of water pipes, gas pipes and lead cables. In fact, 
a meeting of such societies is incomplete to-day without some discussion on 
this subject. It was, therefore, with hesitation and misgivings that I con- 
sidered the written invitation from the officers of the Institute to prepare a 




paper on the " Electrolytic effect of currents on subterranean gas and water 
pipes." A prominent officer of the Institute urged that as I was undoubt- 
edly the first to discover and satisfactorily prove that this action was 
destroying cables, I ought to give the society an account of my investi- 
gations and the results. On this suggestion the promise was made to lay 
before you such facts as opportunity would allow. If sufficient data may 
be presented to form a nucleus for the evening's discussion, it will, I am 
sure, be of some practical value. 

Early in the summer of 1891 some lead-covered telephone cable removed 
from wooden ducts in Boston showed some very marked, yet local spots of 



ELECTROLYSIS. 191 



corrosion. The cause of the corrosion was generally attributed to acetic 
acid contained in the wooden conduit, which had years before caused cor- 
rosion on a few cables in certain sections of the city. In the case just 
mentioned the corrosion was so severe, and located in spots only, that it led 
me to attribute the cause to electrolytic action from the railway currents, 
and a letter was written to my company to that effect. 

A few months later the lead covering of a cable (No. 208) resting upon 
the ground in manhole chamber No. 76, located at the corner of Berkeley 
and Newbury streets, was found eaten entirely through at the point of con- 
tact with the earth. I then felt certain the cable had been destroyed by 
the action of the current. With Mr. W. I. Towne, my assistant, I proceeded 
to prove the theory. 

We took measurements between the cable and the earth, the cable 
having been repaired and raised from the ground, and found 1.5 to 2 volts 
difference of potential, the cable being positive to the earth. A barrel of 
earth was procured from an excavation 
in the street, a metal plate placed 
beneath the earth in the barrel, and 
two short pieces of lead cable placed 
side by side on top of the earth. The 
plate in the bottom of the barrel was 
then connected to the negative side of 
a storage battery, giving 4 volts po- 
tential, and one piece of the cable ly- 
ing on the earth was connected with 
the positive pole of the storage battery. 
The second piece of cable in the bar- 
rel was left without electrical con- 
nections. The earth was then satu- 
rated with water and the circuit was 
closed, allowing the current to pass 
from battery to cable, to earth, to plate 
and to battery, for seven consecutive 

days. The pieces of cable were then removed and the piece which had 
been connected with the battery was badly pitted, closely resembling the 
cable which had been destroyed, while the second piece of cable showed no 
corrosion whatever, proving conclusively that a current such as was found 
in the manhole was sufficient to cause the damage that had been found, and 
that the corrosion was not, in the case of the experiment at least, due to 
any acid or salts in the earth. 

Fig. 1 shows the barrel experiment, and Fig. 2 is a photograph of the 
cable No. 20S, which has been described as found resting on the earth in 
the manhole chamber and corroded through ; also the pieces experimented 
upon in the barrel. That shown in the centre of the photograph is cable 
No. 208. 

In addition to the experiment just mentioned we placed in the bottom 
of manhole chamber No. 76, two short pieces of cable, one of which we 
connected by a wire to cable No. 208, which had been damaged by electro- 
lysis. (It should be understood that the damaged cable had been repaired 
and removed from the bottom of the chamber. ) Fig. 3 shows the arrange- 




792 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ment of this experiment. At the end of six weeks the pieces of cable were 
removed and examined. The one which had been connected with cable 
No. 208 was deeply pitted, while the other piece was free from corrosion. 
as shown in in Fig. 4, which is from a photograph of them. 

These experiments, with several others of minor importance, satisfied 
all who were interested, that electrolytic action was destroying cables, and 
probably gas and water pipes. 

It next became necessary to prove to the electrician of the railway 
company, that the current causing electrolysis was from the railway system, 
and not from a leak in the Edison or some other electric lighting system. 




Bradlty j Pontes, Engr's, N.Y. 



Measurements were made between the cables in all manholes and the 
earth near the cables, for voltage and direction of current. It was found 
that within a radius of about 2,000 feet from the Albany Street power-house, 
cables were negative to the earth, ranging from zero to 2 volts, and that 
outside of this neutral line, they were positive to the earth from zero to 12 
volts. This condition prevailed until a point was reached near the East 
Cambridge power-house, when they again passed a neutral line and became 
more and more negative as that power-house was approached. The same 
conditions were found as the Allston railway power-house was approached. 
On obtaining sufficient data, maps were drawn, showing voltage between 
cables and earth, throughout all sections of the city. This is shown in map, 
Fig- 5- 



ELECTROLYSIS. 793 



In addition to the figures placed beside the several routes of cable con- 
duits, showing the direction of current and its pressure, we have colored red 
such portion of the map where at that time we found the cables positive to 
the earth. We may call the red portion of the map the danger territorv. 
These potential measurements, though taken for other purposes, incidentally 
furnished all the proof needed to convince one that the railway power was 
the source of the troublesome currents. 

At the time the map was made, and previously, the railway was operat- 
ing with the negative pole of the dynamo to the trolley, the positive side 
being to the rails. 

Fig. 6 is intended to illustrate this condition. It shows the passage of 
current from the dynamo to the rails, and the passage of a portion of the 
current from the rails to the cables within the neutral or zero line, and from 
cables to rails outside of this zero line. The danger of electrolysis is only where 



the current is leaving the cable or pipe through the moist earth, hence the 
dangerous district was at this time outside of the zero, or neutral line, as 
shown both on the map (Fig. 5) and in this Fig. 6. 

Having outlined our early experience in running down this new trouble, 
we will next mention some of the proposed and applied remedies. Several 
conferences were held for the purpose of suggesting and discussing means 
for preventing the destruction of the cables, at which the officers and experts 
of both the railway and telephone companies were present, and it should be 
said, that the railway company in Boston has shown a disposition to adopt 
any promising plan for overcoming the evil, save, perhaps, the abandonment 
of the rails and earth as a part of the circuit. 

First. — It was proposed to remove all cables from the wet bottom and 
sides of the so-called manholes. It was found very difficult to place and re- 
tain cables free from the wet sides, and even could this have been accom- 
plished, the action at the mouth of the ducts, and within them would still 
have continued. They were, however, all removed from the bottom of the 
manhole. 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 




Fig. 5.— Showing where Corrosion was Going On when First Brought to Notice. 
The shaded portions of the map are referred to in the paper as colored red. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



795 



Second. — It was suggested that the cable might be connected to ground 
plates in the manholes, and so transfer the electrolytic action to these plates, 
and thus save the cables. This experiment was tried on an extended scale, 
but though many ground plates having a surface of several square feet each 
were connected with the cables over a large portion of the city, it was found 
that volt-meter readings taken between the cables and a point on the earth 




a short distance removed from the ground plate in any manhole, gave nearly 
the same pressure as before the ground plates we're connected. 

In some cases, the voltage between the cables and the earth was reduced 
25% ; in many others, no noticeable reduction was made. The ground plates 
were constructed from pieces of old lead cable, 6 to 10 feet in length and 
embedded in the wet earth at the bottom of the manholes. It was evident 
from this test, that ordinary ground plates would not prove of material ad- 
vantage for protecting the cables. 




Third.— Prof. Elihu Thomson suggested, among other possible reme- 
dies, the placing of motor generators at different points along the railway 
line, wherever the cables and pipes are found to be in danger, the motor 
generators to be operated by the railway power current ; the secondary cur- 
rent developed by these generators to be utilized to lower the potential in 



796 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the cables and pipes to zero, with respect to the surrounding earth or 
rails. The suggestion included means for automatically starting and stop- 
ping the generators, as cables might become positive or negative to the 
rails. The motor generators would, so to speak, pump the current out of 
the cables and force it into the rails whenever the potential of the former 
should rise above zero. Fig. 7 illustrates this suggestion. This plan has 
not yet been put into operation, so far as I am aware. 

Fourth. — Insulating the cables and pipes from the earth was proposed. 
As some of the worst cases of corrosion of cables by electrolysis occurred 
where they were painted with asphalt, taped, painted again, and finally 





covered again with a heavy braiding also saturated with asphalt, it was appar- 
ent that to insulate cables sufficiently to protect them would be difficult and 
expensive, if indeed practically possible. Figures 8 and 9 show specimens 
of corrosion of cables which had been treated with asphalt, tape and braid- 
ing. To protect water and gas pipes by a sufficient insulating jacket was 
seen at once to be impracticable. 

Fifth. — Breaking the metallic continuity of the cable sheath and pipes 
was proposed. From the fact that severe action is frequently found in com- 



paratively isolated spots, where cables and pipes cross each other or pass 
near or cross the rails, it follows that any system of breaking the metallic 
continuity would have to be studied with reference to the entire complicated 
system of pipes, cables and rails ramifying through the streets of a city. 
There would also be a difference of potential between the several sections 
of cable or pipe, severed metallically, tending to cause electrolysis at one 
end of each section, as illustrated in Fig. 10. In case of water pipes 
treated in this manner, the action might be expected on the interior as well 
as on the exterior. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



797 



There appears to be some evidence of such an action as this in gas and 
water pipes where the electrical continuity is partially broken by leaded 
joints. Fig. n shows an iron service pipe from the Cambridge gas system- 
It will be noticed that the action is most severe at points immediately on 
either side of the coupling. The reason the corrosion appears on both sides 
of the coupling in this case is not clear ; it may be due to reversal of cur- 
rent on the railway system. We have observed other specimens similar to 

i\i i : on \ \ % 




%zgf# 



this, which may tend to show that, for currents of low pressure, the 
resistance of joints materially affects the results. I will again refer to this 
question in connection with potential differences in water mains. 

Sixth. — My assistant, Mr. Towne, suggested that the railway current 
might be so frequently alternated as possibly to prevent serious action on 
the pipes and cables. The theory was that, before the oxygen gas, liberated 
by the current, should have time to attack the metal, the reversal of the 






current would disperse it. A careful experiment was conducted, extending 
over a period of ten days, employing a pressure of current from three to 
seven volts, and alternating its direction at regular periods of one minute, 
by specially devised apparatus. No material change had taken place in 
either plate during this period of time. We then considered the practica- 
bility of reversing the railway current frequently. It seemed possible to 
reverse it once each 24 hours, at a given time in the night when the load is 



r9S 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 




Fig. 12.— Condition after Current was Reversed by West End Co. 
The shaded portions of the map are referred to in the paper as colored red. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



799 



comparatively light. To do this in a large system involving several power 
stations would require either a loss of current for a few minutes in order to 
guard against one station reversing before some other had opened or re- 
versed its current, or would require some electrical system connecting the 
several stations together and operating the reversing apparatus simultane- 
ously. We concluded it would be very difficult, if indeed at all practicable, 
to reverse such heavy currents during regular traffic. We then renewed the 
reversing experiment, giving 24 hour periods between each alternation, but 
found at the end of two weeks, to our sorrow, that the plates subjected to 
the action of the current were seriously electrolyzed. It seemed useless to 
pursue this line of work further at that time. When alternating current 
motors become practicable for use on street cars, advantage may be taken 
of the fact that such currents appear not to cause electrolysis to the extent 
of injuring pipes and cables exposed to them. 

Seventh. — At about this stage in the study of the problem, Mr. Fred S. 
Pearson, then engineer of the West End Street Railway Co., made two sug- 




LEAD CABLE 



gestions which, though separate in themselves, and presented at different 
dates, yet carried out in conjunction, have proved exceedingly helpful in 
overcoming the difficulty, at least so far as relates to telephone cables. It 
occurred to Mr. Pearson first, that if the railway current should be reversed 
so that the positive pole would be connected with the trolley, the danger of 
electrolysis would be removed from the greater and more scattered portion 
of the city, and be brought near the power stations where it possibly could 
be more easily dealt with. This reversal was made and the expected poten- 
tial changes between cables and earth followed. Fig. 12 is a map of Boston 
showing the condition after the reversal of current. The red or dangerous 
portions in this map, correspond to the white or safe districts in the map, 
shown in the first of this paper (Fig. 5), the only variation being, that by 
the reversal, the neutral or zero line was thrown out a little further from the 
Albany Street power-house than it was located before. It was also noted 
that the cables near the power-housewhich had been from one to two volts 
negative to earth before the change of current, were now one to nine volts 
positive to earth ; that is, they were raised higher above zero than they had 
been below zero prior to the reversal. Fig. 13 is a typical representation of 
the current flowing throngh trolley, car, rails, and cables at this time. It 



800 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



will be readily understood that with the conditions as illustrated in this 
figure, the electrolytic action would be confined to the territory compar- 
atively near the power stations where the current is leaving the cables to 
reach the negative or rail side of the dynamo. 

Mr. Pearson next suggested the plan of running out large copper con- 




WATER PlPt 



ductors from the negative side of the dynamo and extending them through 
the dangerous district, connecting them at frequent intervals to the cables. 
Fig. 14 diagrammatically illustrates this plan. On the principle involved in 
Prof. Thompson's motor generators, this low resistance conductor connected 
directly to the dynamo, was to pump the current from the cables and so 
prevent its passage into or through the moist earth. Some of us were 
skeptical as to the completeness of this proposed remedy. It seemed possi- 
ble that even with such a good return conductor, some of the current might 
still pass into, and through the earth. Voltage measurements, however, at 
once dispelled the doubts, for we found that the cables measuring 9 volts 
positive to earth, gave a reading of 22 positive to the return conductor ; that 
is, the return wire as relating to the cables, was at all points more negative 
than the earth (if we may be allowed the expression). The return con- 
ductors were made up of a large number of No. 18 copper wires formed into 
cables about one inch in diameter, known as conductors of 500,000 circular 
mils. These conductors were extended in each direction from Albany street 
power-house entirely through this dangerous district, its longest section 
being about 4,300 feet. The cables in every manhole within the district 
were connected by several No. 12 copper wires to the return conductor and 
soldered. On first connecting the cables to the return conductor, which 
took place Dec. 24, 1892, the current was sufficient to melt several strands 
of No. 12 wire. A measurement for current flowing in the main return con- 
ductor which was used for relieving the cables only, gave about 500 amperes. 
It may be interesting here to note comparative voltages in the district 
near the power-house, as given in the accompanying table. 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



801 



! 








Between Cables 






After Reversal 


Between Cable 


and Earth after 




First Measure- 


of Railway 
Current. 


and Return 


Return Con- 


Manhole No. 


ment to earth. 


Conductor. 


ductor was con- 










nected to Cables. 


263 


1-5+ 


o-3- 


22+ 


4 5— 


264 


15 + 


2. + 


22 + 


4-5— 


26S 


05+ 


0.5+ 


22 + 




266 


0.5+ 


2.8+ 


22 + 


0.8 — 


267 
268 




4-8+ 


22 + 




I. — 


- 5- + 


22 + 


2. — 


310 
269 

270 
271 
272 

273 
274 


1.5- 


3-5+ 


22 + 


1-5— 




4. + 


22 + 






6.5+ 


22 + 




2. — 


6.5+ 


22 + 


1-5— 




6.5+ 


22 + 


o-5— 




9- + 


22 + 


1. — 


1.5— 


9 ' t 


22 + 


2.8 — 


276 


0.5+ 


7- + 


22 + 


2. — 


277 
278 




2. + 


22 + 




2- + 


0.5+ 


22 + 


5- — 


279 
280 




1. — 


22 + 


7-5— 


3- + 


2. — 


2 2 + 


7 5— 


305 
306 


1. + 
0.5+ 


o-3— 

0.5+ 


22 + 
22 + 


3-S— 
3-8- 


3°7 


0.5+ 


2.5+ 


22 + 




308 
309 


0.5— 
1. — 


4- ^ 
4. + 


22+ 

2 2 + 


3- — 


3" 
12 


1. — 


2.5+ 


22 + 




2. — 


2.5+ 


22 + 




3i3 

3H 


1 . — 


3.0+ 

25+ 


22 + 
22 + 


0.5— 
2 5— 



Fig. 15 is from a photograph taken in one of the manholes showing the 
connection of the cables to the return conductor ; the limited size of the 
manhole prevented my obtaining a view of all the cables. 

The map, Fig. 16, illustrates the condition after the installation of the 
return conductor at the Albany Street station. The red patch which existed 
in that locality is now removed, and the cables are all negative to earth. 
The remaining red patches or dangerous sections were corrected by taking 
similar means of reaching the East Cambridge power-house. In treating 
this latter case, many measurements were made to determine whether or 
not the railway return wires put up to take the current in a measure from 
the tracks, would answer for a return for the cables instead of using a special 
return conductor as had been employed at the Albany Street district. It 
was found that they would not answer, since the potential of these track 
return wires varied constantly and was frequently above that of the earth. 

The cables on the Boston side of the draw of West Boston bridge proved 
to be positive to both the rail and the water, while on the other side of that 
narrow draw the opposite condition existed, showing at once that it was 
unsafe to assume any neutral lines or potential difference without making 
measurements to determine the absolute facts. 

So far this paper has dealt particularly with the subject of protection 
of lead-covered cables. It might be inferred that water and gas pipes can 



802 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



be treated in precisely the same manner with the same results, or as water 
pipes have a much greater sectional area of metal, it might be presumed 
that simply a connection of such pipes to the dynamo at the power station 




would be sufficient to bring their potential down to zero throughout the dan- 
gerous district. The facts so far coming to our notice would materially 
modify such inferences, and therefore should find a place here. 




That iron pipes are as truly subjected to the corrosion as lead, need not be 
stated to the members of this society, but for the benefit of city officials 
and others who may read the paper, it should be plainly stated that they are 



ELECTROLYSIS. 803 




Fig. 16. — Conditions Jan. 4, after Connecting West End Ground Wire to 
Cables near Power Station. . - 

The shaded portions of the map are referred to in the paper as colored re*- 



804 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



quite as readily destroyed by electrolysis. Fig. 17 is from a photograph of 
an iron gas pipe taken from Brooklyn, N. Y. 

The city engineer of Milwaukee, Mr, G. H. Benzenberg, has kindly 
sent me a photograph of a six-inch iron water main, badly corroded. It is 
the best specimen of cast-iron pipe I have been able to obtain, although not 
the most serious case of corrosion. Fig. 18 is from the Milwaukee specimen. 
Mr. Benzenberg writes that the trouble in that city was chiefly noticed 
upon the six-inch water main extending 100 feet on each side of a point 
opposite the railway power station. Services entering this main were also 
destroyed, and all were renewed three times during the past two years. He 
states further, and I quote his own 
words, "at other points where power 
houses were established thereafter, the 
mains were immediately connected by 
extra heavy copper wires with the gen- 
erator ; we have had no trouble with 
them so far." 

Mr. O. H. Tripp, engineer at Rock- 
land, Me., recently furnished me with 
a specimen of wrought-iron pipe de- 
stroyed in five months ; the fact is of 
special interest, as it comes fromacity 
having but a small railway system. 

In Boston there have been water as 
well as gas service pipes corroded 
through by electrolysis. I have not 
learned of any mains having burst 
from this cause. Measurements of 
water pipes in the city indicate they 
are still in danger, notwithstanding 
several thoroughly made connections 
with the pipes at the power station ; 
the same is true in Cambridge, Mass. 
This leads me to call attention to an F,G 18 - 

interesting series of inquiries. 

The engineer of the Water Board at Rochester, N. Y., suggested to me, 
a short time ago, while looking into the question of electrolytic action upon 
the pipes in that city, that possibly there might be sufficient resistance in 
the joints of the water mains to cause an action upon the lead ring which 
forms the connection between sections of pipe. He stated that not in- 
frequently there is found a film of moisture between the pipe and this lead 
ring, and as the pipes are coated with a preparation of tar or asphalt on both 
the inner and outer surfaces before they are laid, there might be a poor 
electrical connection. Without having made any inquiries or tests upon 
this point, it seems to me probable that the careful calking which is given 
these lead rings would form, in some portion of each joint, a good electrical 
connection, that is, one of very low resistance. Recent measurements how- 
ever made in Boston, and others made in Albany during the latter part of 
March this year, convince me that there is a very appreciable resistance in 
such joints. 




ELECTROLYSIS. 



805 



Fig. 19 will illustrate the conditions at Albany. We found the negative 
side of the dynamo to be connected with the rails, and with ground plates 
in old wells ; no connection had been made with water or other pipes. 
Directly in front of the power station the voltmeter indicated a pressure of 



=A= 



WATER PIPE 




TROLLEY WIRE 



-1200-FEET 



20 f 18 

7 fs- - 300-F-T- 4 ~ -H- - -300-PT- ~A 7 



POWER STATION 



-^- GROUND 

Fig. 19. 



20 volts between water pipe (an 8-inch cast-iron pipe) and the rail, the pipe 
being positive. A reading taken about 300 feet in either direction, up or 
down the street, indicated about 18 volts. At a point 1,200 feet north, the 
reading was lowered to 12 volts. We then connected the rail side of the 
dynamo to the street hydrant and took new readings, finding 1 volt at the 
station, 7 volts at 300 feet distant, the same south, and 8 volts at a point 
1,200 feet north. 

These measurements, with similar indications in Boston, show plainly 
that there is a very appreciable resistance in the water main joints. At the 
same time the measurements give fair evidence that the difference of volt- 
age between any two sections of water pipe is very small. The inteiested 
parties at Albany have kindly consented to allow any facts or figures 
obtained there in reference to this subject to be placed in this paper. 

Fig. 20 is from a photograph of a piece of service pipe at Albany. 

A few measurements made through the danger district will be of inter- 
est. The station is situated near the southern extremity of the city. The 
danger district extends north about one mile, and over this portion of the 
district the following figures were obtained. They were taken at nearly 
uniform distances of about 500 feet, beginning at the station. 



MEASUREMENTS IN THE DANGER DISTRICTS. 



At Station Cable to Earth. 

" " Rail... 

" " Water " " 

500 Ft. North. ...Cable " Earth 

" " Track. 

" •' Water " " 



.Positive, 12 volts. 



806 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



« 1. 


,1 ., 


Track 


« 


18 


11 11 


Water " 

Cable " 


11 


11 




1,500 " 


Earth 


» 


6 


" 


" ' 


' Rail 


" 


18 


II II 


Water " 

Cable " 


». 


11 


t8 


2,000 " 


Earth 


" 


8 


" 


" " 


Rail 





16 


2,500 " 


Water " 


Earth 

Rail 


'-' 


6 
13 
8 


3,000 " 


Cable " 


Earth 

' Rail 


.. 


4 
11 


3,500 " 


Water " 


; Earth 

' Rail 


" 


3 
12 

7 


4,000 " 


.Cable " 


■ Earth 

Rail 


11 


3 

8 


4 500 " 


., 


' Earth 

■ Rail 


.1 


1 
1 


11 


Water ' 


" 




5,000 " 


Cable ' 


' Earth 

k Rail 







It is proposed at Albany to extend large wires (0000) through the dan- 
gerous district, one wire for each system of pipes, connecting the pipes to 
them at frequent intervals. 

It is probable that the remedy which has been applied to telephone ca- 
bles in some cities, has been the more positive from the very failure so far 
to thoroughly protect the other systems of pipes against electrolytic action. 
Fig. 14 (already shown) may assist to a clear understanding of this. The 
cables are here shown connected by a large wire to the dynamo, while water 
pipes are not so treated. Therefore, the current which enters the water 
pipes at points outside the danger district passes to the neighborhood of the 
power station, and, in leaving them there, raises the potential of the earth 
about the cables. In other words, the current flows from the water pipes to 
the ground and thence to the cables in order to reach the dynamo. 

Connecting any one system of pipes to the dynamo, will, in a measure, 
protect other systems of pipes, but connecting all systems reduces the cer- 
tainty or margin of certainty of protection to any one system. This will be 
apparent from a little study of Figure 14 just referred to. 

When all cables and pipes in the danger district are connected by suffi- 
ciently large conductors to drain them, a carefnl adjustment in resistance in 
these several conductors may be found necessary in order to insure a bal- 
ance between the several systems of pipes. It may lead to the necessity of 
reducing the carrying capacity of the conductor returning to the dynamo 
from the rails themselves. 

The question has already arisen, and it doubtless will be repeated here — 
" How small a difference of potential between pipe and earth will cause elec- 
trolytic action ?" In reply to this, it may be stated that some of the worst 
cases of corrosion in Boston have occurred where the difference was but one 
and one-half volts. Mr. A. T. Wells, of Chicago, in describing to me an ex- 
amination of some of the first cases in Cincinnati, states that the "differ- 
ence of potential between the cables and the rail, was never more than one- 
half, and usually less than one-quarter volt. ' ' Such a difference between 



ELECTROLYSIS. 807 





cable and rail would mean a much less difference between cable and earth, 
where electrolysis takes place. Mr. John C. Lee, of Boston, has experimen- 
tally caused the corrosion on lead and iron by a difference of potential 
°f tott volt. 

These facts certainly indicate that but a very small pressure is necessary 
to produce the action, and should dispel the numerous statements that well- 
bonded rails or a large amount of rail return wires will alone overcome the 
trouble. In some cities, where electrolysis is in progress to-day, the 
return copper nearly equals that of the trolley and feed-wire system. We 
cannot force the current to take one path exclusively when others are 
open to it. 

The facts given above, with others similar, though not enumerated, 
lead me to these conclusions : 

ist. All single trolley railways employing the rails as a portion of the 
circuit cause electrolytic action and consequent corrosion of pipes in their 
immediate vicinity, unless special provision is made to prevent it. 

2nd. A fraction of a volt difference of potential between pipes and the 
damp earth surrounding them, is sufficient to induce the action. 

3rd. Bonding of rails, or providing a metallic return conductor equal 
in sectional area and conductivity to the outgoing wires, is insufficient to 
wholly prevent damage to pipes. 

4th. Insulating pipes sufficiently to prevent the trouble is imprac- 
ticable. 

5th. Breaking the metallic continuity of pipes at sufficiently frequent 
intervals is impracticable. 

6th. It is advisable to connect the positive pole of the dynamo to the 
trolley lines. 

7th. A large conductor extending from the grounded side of the 
dvnamo, entirely through the danger territory and connected at every few- 
hundred feet to such pipes as are in danger, will usually ensure their pro- 
tection. 

8th. It is better to use a separate conductor for each set of pipes to be 
protected. 

9th. Connection only at the power station to water or gas pipes will 
not ensure their safety. 

10th. Connection between the pipes and rail, or rail return wires, out- 
side of the danger district, should be carefully avoided. 

nth. Frequent voltage measurements between pipes and earth should 



SOS FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



be obtained, and such changes in return conductors made as the measure- 
ments indicate. 

In closing this somewhat rambling paper, I can do no better than use 
words which will remind you of Patrick Henry, " eternal vigilance " will 
be the "price" of pipes and cables where conditions favorable to elec- 
trolysis exist. 

Boston, March 30, 1S94. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ELECTROLYSIS. 
Read at Meeting Western Gas Association, Cleveland, Ohio, 

May 17, 1894. 

Your committee, to whom was referred the matter of electrolytic corro 
sion of gas and water pipes by the return currents of electrical street rail- 
ways, submit the following report as the result of their investigations : 

A thorough appreciation of the principles of electrolysis being necessary 
to the proper explanation of the effects observed, your committee may be 
pardoned for repeating some details which may be already familiar. Practical 
employment of the phenomenon of electrolysis is made in electroplating, in 
the Edison electric meter, in the reduction of aluminum and other metals 
from their oxides, in the purification of sewage, etc., but the condition of its 
application most similar to that which we are now considering is exhibited 
in the well-known laboratory experiment of analyzing water by the passage 
of an electric current between poles immersed in the acidulated liquid, for 
electrolysis literally means a loosening or dissolving by electricity. These 
poles are called electrodes, the positive pole being the anode and the 
negative the cathode, while the liquid is termed the electrolyte. In the 
instance cited, if the object of the experiment were the production of 
hydrogen and oxygen, platinum poles would be employed ; but if a more 
easily oxidizable substance were used for the electrodes, the conditions 
present in the analogous system of electroplating would be produced — that 
is, there would be a perceptible wasting away of the substance of the positive 
pole, and a gradual accretion at the cathode or negative terminal. The 
electrolyte must be a compound substance, and in a liquid state, either by 
solution or fusion. When a salt is electrolyzed, the acid always appears at 
the positive pole and the base at the negative. In the case of water, the 
collection of the hydrogen at the negative pole is but another instance of its 
metallic behavior, and the oxygen always collects at the positive pole. 

Turning now to the phase of electrolysis which we have to consider, we 
may briefly summarize its history by remarking that telegraphic practice had 
led electricians to think the earth's resistance practically nothing ; hence in 
the earlier electric traction installations, no special attempts were made to 
provide for returning the currents to the power-houses. But the necessity 
for such provisions was soon apparent, and a form of bond-wire for connec- 
tion at rail-joints was introduced, the tracks being relied upon as return 
conductors. The use of a supplementary wire between the tracks, larger 
bond wires, and more attention towards securing electric contact, followed, 
but with increased experience in electric railway work, came the realization 



ELECTROLYSIS. 809 



that these attempts had been little better than make-shifts, and that owing 
to imperfections and consequent resistance, a large proportion of the cur- 
rent was seeking other avenues of return, and was causing injuries by so 
doing. 

The realization of this condition by no means came all at once, for rail- 
way managers were at first loath to believe the operation of their dynamos 
responsible for the reported damages to the telephone cables and gas and 
water pipes, but ascribed the corrosion to chemicals in the soil or other 
causes, and doubtless looked upon the loss of their current as a necessary 
evil attendant upon the method of propulsion employed. Some of the 
earliest experiments to locate the source of this corrosion were those of Mr. I. 
H. Farnham, of the New England Telegraph & Telephone Company, Boston, 
who exposed short lengths of cable to all the conditions affecting the cor- 
roded cable except that of connection with the system of wires, and found 
them unaffected after an exposure during which the neighboring connected 
cables were badly injured. Many other tests have been made, and there is 
now a full agreement by both the owners of the buried pipe and wire systems 
and the street railway people as to the cause of the trouble, all uniting in 
ascribing it to the earth returns of the enormous currents used in electric 
traction. 

Having agreed that the grounded current is responsible for the injuries 
we have observed, let us see the manner in which it acts. No effect is pro- 
duced where the current reaches the pipes, for this is a negative electrode, 
and would be receiving a deposit from the rails and bond-wires, if any 
action was apparent. Neither is there likely to be any damage in the body 
of the pipe, unless a small connecting line should be encountered whose 
greater resistance would cause heating, or the presence of joints of higher 
resistance (due to leaks, or the use of cement) should force the current out, 
to return a few inches further on. But the injurious action occurs at the 
point where the current leaves the pipe to enter same conductor offering an 
easier path. This will usually take place opposite the power-house — where 
the current is also greatest in quantity owing to the accumulated returns 
from the entire line — and at points where pipes cross beneath the tracks, the 
current returning to the rails with especial readiness if the direction of the 
pipes no longer coincides with that of the railway. Here the conditions of 
our laboratory experiment are reproduced. Of two points where rails and 
pipes are equally distant, the greater flow of current will take place where 
the greater moisture exists. This moist earth then is our electrolyte, made 
specially effective by the gas, ammonia from animal refuse, salt from melting 
snow, or other chemicals present in the ground ; the pipe is our anode ; and 
the rail or other objective point of the current the cathode. The metal of 
the anode or positive pole is gradually carried in the direction of flow of 
the current ; and the electrolysis once begun, the oxygen and ozone of the 
electrolyzed moisture collect at the positive pole and aid iu attacking the 
pipe. The rapidity of its destruction depends on the quantity of the current 
passing rather than upon its voltage ; and instances are on record aud in the 
knowledge of your committee where a single month sufficed to destroy new 
service pipes. 

Verbal expressions from several sources, as well as certain published 
discussions, seem to indicate that the full extent and effect of this electro- 



810 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



lytic trouble is but vaguely realized by many of us. Some of us may think 
that, not having found any ill effects ourselves, the question, though an 
interesting one, deals with a matter that does not touch us directly. Your 
committee would emphasize this statement, that no city in which an electric 
road is operating with any part of the return through the ground, has its 
gas and water pipes wholly free from electrolytic action ; the fancied im- 
munity is the security of incomplete information. To draw attention to the 
wide-spread nature of the trouble, a portion of the appendix accompanying 
this report is devoted to published accounts of damaged pipes. The greater 
riumber of complaints come from the water interests, for two reasons — first, 
greater conductivity, for the water mains range greater in size than gas 
mains, the absence of cement joints decreases their resistance, and the con- 
tained water may add to the conductivity ; and, second, the greater pressure 
carried more quickly occasions a break. But the gas mains are beginning 
to indicate the action upon them, and will do so more and more unless 
effective remedies are soon applied. When we realize not alone the immense 
capital buried in our water and gas distributing systems, but the fact that 
street improvements have made repairs to our pipes additionally expensive, 
we may begin to appreciate the serious character of a condition which 
divides by 5, 10, 50 and even 100, the life of a pipe, and which, until the 
cause be removed, may repeat the operation on the replaced line in an 
equally short time, or accomplish a similar injury at another point where 
its action will be less readily located. 

Coming now to a consideration of the remedies, we will first notice those 
which have been suggested for adoption by the gas and water companies. 
Probably the earliest of these was that of coating the pipes with non-con- 
ducting paint or a covering of a similar purpose. A parallel of this is the 
use of drain pipes of slightly greater diameter than the metal ones, slipped 
over the latter and cemented at the joints and at ends. These have been 
adopted with especial convenience for service pipes crossing under the rails, 
but their value is dependent upon the local circumstances. If the corrosion 
at such a place is caused by the current flowing downward through the 
earth and so entering and leaving the service at about the same points — 
placing it in an electric bath, as it were — such a covering should prove a 
true protection. But if the current had reached the line through some 
imperfection at a point farther away, and caused the corrosion by leaving 
the pipe to return to the rail, any insulation, if locally effective, would 
cause the current to seek a different avenue of exit, and so merely transfer 
the point of corrosion. A determination at such places of the direction of 
the current, whether from or to the rail, would show whether or not a non- 
conducting covering would be effective. Incidentally, the adoption of in- 
sulation at the current's points of departure would increase the resistance 
of the mains and so decrease the proportion of current carried, but com- 
plete relief by the plan suggested would require encasing of the entire dis- 
tributing system, and as a final curative it may be dismissed as impractic- 
able. 

The same reasoning applies to the method adopted on certain lines of 
water pipe in Los Angeles, which were laid in conduits filled with sawdust, 
and also to the use which has elsewhere been made of a covering of pitch, 
kept in place by boxing of convenient form. All these protectives are too 



ELECTROLYSIS. 811 



costly for general adoption, and no partial installation of any of them would 
wholly cure the trouble. 

A similar statement may be made regarding the device of winding or 
protecting the pipes with copper wires attached to plates buried below. This 
was tried in Cambridge, Mass., but relinquished because of the rapid de- 
struction of the copper ground-plates. 

The paralleling of gas mains on each side of streets occupied by electric 
roads, that there may be no crossing service pipes, has been suggested ; and 
in Aurora, 111., circumstances have left the Gas Light Company with their 
mains thus duplicated, and hitherto no trouble from electricity has been 
experienced. But it would seem that while crossing mains at intersecting 
streets could be insulated, some electric leakage or induction must occur 
from the long parallel lines of uninsulated conductors, rails and pipes, thus 
placed comparatively close together. The British Committee on the electro- 
lytic subject seems to regard the interposition of six feet of dry earth as a 
sufficient shield, but under the conditions existing in most cities the ab- 
sence of moisture would be difficult to guarantee ; and the great cost of 
such a method of protection, even if effective, would put it out of the ques- 
tion. 

The use of cement joints for gas mains is in a measure an advantage as a 
protection, for any tendency to increase the resistance of our pipes is help- 
ful so far as it goes. This remedy, though, does not apply to the water 
mains, and should the pipes have been connected to the dynamos or cross- 
bonded to the rails, as will be described later, the presence of cement joints 
would be a positive source of danger. 

It is plainly apparent from a consideration of the foregoing devices and 
the conditions which limit them, that no remedy can be applied by the gas 
and water interests which will be wholly effective. We now come to 
consider the preventives whose adoption devolves upon the railway com- 
panies. 

In the earlier days of the " broomstick trains," the practice as tocurrent 
direction was not as uniform as it generally is now, for in some plants the 
dynamos were run with the positive pole to the trolley wire, and some with 
the negative. In the latter cases, electrolytic effects were produced along 
the entire line wherever the current would find a ready path from pipes to 
rails, so that locating the injuries was a much more difficult task. As the 
car motors take current either way, however, reversing the current's direc- 
tion was an easy matter — especially in places where but one electric road is 
operating, and has been generally done. The liability to corrosion is thus 
brought to within a narrow range, and largely localized in the neighborhood 
of the power houses. 

Most prominent in point of numbers among the remedial devices 
adopted by the railway companies are those for securing additional electrical 
contact at the bonds, and obtaining a bond conductivity approximately equal 
to that of the rail itself. The necessity of greater attention to this latter 
point is shown in the tables which have been published of relative conduc- 
tive area of the several sizes of rails and bonds in use ; it has been custo- 
mary to bond 56-lb. rails, for instance, with No. o B. W. G. copper wire, 
whose relative conductivity is but one-twentieth as great. The use of the 
customary sizes of supplementary wires between the rails is by this compar- 



812 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ison shown to be equalty ridiculous and ineffective ; one writer remarks that 
it is "laying a twelve-inch water main and then putting a one-half inch 
pipe alongside to help it out ; " and it has been well said that the weight of 
copper now used in supplementary ground wires would be much better 
employed in the form of heavier bonds. A contributor to The Engineering 
Record states that "a section H, 6o-lb. Tewis & Fowler box rail has about 
the same resistance as a copper wire one and one-eighth inches in diameter. 
No such amounts of copper have yet been used to make bonds, and until 
they have, the possibilities of rail returns have not been exhausted." The 
same writer refers to some experiments by Messrs. Warner & Thayer on 
track resistances, which showed that the resistance of the rail section was so 
slight that the calculated resistance of the bonds accounted for nearly all 
of that observed. 

In order to decrease the cost of bond wires it has been suggested to 
make them twelve inches long instead of thirty inches, as is usually done, 
which would also reduce the bond resistance, and to use rails sixty or one 
hundred feet long instead of thirty feet, The suggested use of bonds of 
equal conductivity with the body of the rail and of greater rail lengths is 
still a step short of welded joints and continuous tracks, which have been 
adopted on several lines. The principal objection to the use of continuous 
rails has been the fear that changes in temperature would induce alterations 
in their length previously allowed for by spacing between abutting joints, 
and that buckling or deflection of the tracks would thereby ensue. But 
careful tests on a practical scale seems to have shown that in a well laid 
track of this character linear expansion may be disregarded, and that 
changes in temperature produce their effects " in a minute enlargement and 
reduction of the sectional area of the rail." Such a line of double track, 
three and one-half miles long, is now being laid on the North Broadway 
extension in St. Louis, the object of its introduction being the desire to 
decrease the jolting of cars by doing away with the rail joints ; but the man- 
ager of the roads has remarked that an incidental advantage is expected 
from a more efficient return of the current. 

The use of the "three wire system" on electric roads have been 
advocated by Mr. W. Nelson Smith as a deterrent of electrolytic corrosion, 
and has been in operation in Portland, Ore., for the past two years with 
reported success. In its application for this purpose on a double track road, 
the trolley wire above one track serves as the positive, the other as the 
negative, and the rails and earth as the neutral wire. There may be a 
potential difference from earth of 500 volts to each trolley wire, and of 1,000 
volts between them. The rails or neutral wire merely carry the current 
required by the difference in load on the two sides of the line, which is only 
considerable when cars are starting out or going in, and in the morning and 
evening business and home travel, or in cases of "bunching." The diffi- 
culties in overhead construction and insulation are increased, but it is said 
that only one-fourth to one-half the overhead copper is required as for a two 
wire all copper system, such as the double trolley. 

A common practice is to bury, at certain points on the car line, old car- 
wheels, rails, or other forms of plates to collect the ground currents con- 
nected by supplementary wires 10 the power stations. But instances are 
known where such supplementaries have been used of so great length and 



ELECTROLYSIS. 813 



consequent resistance, that, instead of carrying the current back to the 
dynamos, they were found by test to be actually positive to the earth. Their 
insufficiency is more explicitly shown in the experiments of Mr. J. D. Ras- 
tron, Chief Engineer Union Railway Company, Chester, Pa., whose tests 
showed in one instance that the track and ground supplementary wires were 
carrying 235.5 amperes of current, the city water mains 12. 8 amperes, and 
the plates, though connected with an unquestionably thorough ground in a 
creek, but 0.5 amperes. This was doubtless a case with exceptionally un- 
favorable conditions ; but even under propitious circumstances no great 
proportion of the current could be expected to reach the isolated ground 
plates, of relatively small earth contact, as compared with the quantity 
following the long and heavy lines of pipe so widely to be encountered by 
earth currents. 

Recognizing that the currents must follow the main pipes to some 
extent under existing conditions of railway practice, and that the injurious 
effects are produced at their points of leaving, the Water Department in 
Cambridge, Mass., has had heavy copper wires attached to the water mains 
and carried to the negative generator terminals of the electric roads, that 
the currents collected by the mains might lead them by a metallic circuit. 
The water pipes were also connected to the rails, and the water and gas 
services wired together within the cellars along the route of the road ; 
intentional use thus being made of the pipes as conductors. In Milwaukee, 
the railway company conuected their rails to the fire hydrants, but provided 
no means for the departure of the current until prevailed upon to supply 
an attachment near the power station. Elsewhere it has been proposed to 
run feeders to the power house from the mains in various sections of the 
city, but not to connect the mains directly to the rails ; in other words, to 
employ the mains, but only as a huge system of collecting ground plates. 

Of the three grades of this arrangement, the last is preferable, but even 
that is by no means desirable, for it serves to increase the conductive power 
of the pipes, and so invites the ajjproach of currents ; and while no especial 
harm might be done to a perfectly tight water main so wired, a pipe having 
leaks or loose joints, or a gas main with cemented bells, would be speedily 
affected injuriously. Nor should the suggested attachment to water mains 
alone be permitted without protest by gas companies, for if the water mains 
be made better conductors than before, more tendency will be manifested 
by such vagrant currents as may have reached the gas pipes to leave them 
and enter the water mains, so spreading the likelihood and locality of elec- 
trolyzation. 

Mr. I. H. Farnham, in a recent paper before the Institute of Electrical 
Engineers, gives the following description of still another plan : 

' ' Prof. Elihu Thomson suggested placing motor-generators along the 
railway line wherever the cables and pipes are found to be in danger, to be 
operated by the railway power current ; the secondary current developed by 
these generators to be utilized to lower the potential in the cables and pipes 
to zero with respect to the surrounding earth or rails. The suggestion in- 
cluded means for automatically starting and stopping the generators, as 
cables might become positive or negative to the rails. The motor-genera- 
tors would, so to speak, pump the current out of the cables and force it into 



814 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



the rails whenever the potential of the former should rise above zero. This 
plan has not yet been put into operation so far as I am aware." 

Among the devices described in the foregoing" paragraphs are most of 
those which have been adopted to any extent by the railways as preventives 
of electrolytic action. As deterrents or diminishers, many of them assist, 
but not one fulfills the requirement of complete protection, nor can any sys- 
tem do so which uses the rails to an}' appreciable degree as conductors. On 
many of the lines of electric railways — perhaps on most of those within the 
cities — the rails lie parallel for long distances with lines of gas and water 
mains, much better conductors than equal columns of earth, and in cases of 
poor bonding often exceeding in conductivity even the rails themselves. 
Separated from the latter only by a strip of earth, more or less moist, 
the capacity of the rails to conduct all the current is subject to the conduc- 
tive law of inverse resistances, for so long as the rails oifer any resistance 
at all, some current will also follow the lines of higher resistance. The 
pipes will be called upon to bear a portion of the current under the most 
favorable circumstances, and so doing, will be injured, for it has been 
shown by experiment under conditions identical with those existing in 
practice, that electrolytic action may occur with differences of potential of 
0.5 volt. 

It has been claimed that the perfection of the alternating current motor 
in its application to street railway work, would solve the problem of elec- 
trolj'sis ; and the advantages of this system for long distance power trans- 
mission have caused it to be considered for adoption on the Erie Canal 
trolley line. But though faith in the inability of alternating currents to 
exert electrolytic effects is not universal, we need not consider the pros and 
cons, for the motor in satisfactory form is not yet on the market, and the 
immediate solution of the question before us must be sought apart from 
its improvement. 

A system which many large roads are now adopting as a means of 
decreasing their current leakage is that of using insulated track feeders 
designed to carry the entire current, joined to the rails at short intervals, 
each 400 or 500 feet, for instance. The rails are thus employed as conduc- 
tors only between the feeder junctions, and the liability of leaking currents 
is very much reduced. The system is certainly a step in advance of any- 
thing we have }'et considered ; and having been adopted in Boston, 
Brooklyn, Cleveland, etc., we should soon hear if by its use destruction of 
the pipes is wholly avoided. 

A series of well-planned and exhaustive tests of storage batteries, con- 
ducted upon a specially equipped road in Washington, showed that no 
successful accumulator had yet appeared for railway work. Other sug- 
gestions have been considered, and as the insulation of the rails themselves 
may be at once dismissed as impracticable, the absolute and complete pre- 
vention of electrolytic corrosion thus narrows to the use of such a system 
as shall convey the current without the use of the rails or earth for any 
portion of the distance. Of this character are the double trolley lines, 
of overhead construction, like those in Cincinnati, etc., or underground, 
like the conduit systems in Washington and Chicago. Either plan offers 
full and complete immunity from electrolysis, at a cost for copper no 
greater than that of a single trolley system with all-copper return. The 



ELECTROLYSIS. 815 



double overhead design was one of the earliest forms employed, but was 
generally abandoned for the simpler single trolley on account of the diffi- 
culties of construction and insulation. That it is not impracticable is 
evidenced by its extensive employment in Cincinnati ; and were the value 
of the destroyed pipes added to the costs of single-trolley operation very 
little argument might be needed to convince railway managers of the 
superior advantages of the isolated metallic return. 

As to the double underground trolley, or conduit system, invention has 
been rife in its direction, and many designs are offered, though but few have 
received practical test. The Love conduit system at Washington and Chi- 
cago appears to be operating satisfactorily, and doubtless a number of others 
of the plans proposed also possess the elements of success. With the saving 
of ten to twenty-five per cent, in the cost for current— which we are assured 
would follow the introduction of an all copper circuit — the probable deteri- 
oration of overhead work, relief from the liability for damages to pipes, and 
the fact that the trolley lines cannot long escape attention in the clamor for 
putting the wires underground, the prospects for the extension of conduit 
installations seem favorable. 

Another class of injuries from the same general source as the electrolytic 
has been brought to the attention of your committee, namely, arc effects 
caused by short interruptions in the continuity of the metallic lines made to 
serve as conductors. Of this character were the cases in Boston, where the 
yarn was ignited in the bells of pipes which were being laid, and in Indian- 
apolis, where the leaking current followed down a trolley pole and burned a 
hole in the natural gas main close by, the escaping gas from which returned 
through the hollow pole and was lit at its top, destroying a considerable 
extent of the neighboring overhead wires. There the railway's system was 
the greater sufferer ; but such poetic justice as this seldom follows. The 
solution of the electrolytic question, however, will largely carry with it 
the prevention of this class of effects, so that they need not be specially 
considered. 

In detailing the several plans which have been tried or suggested for the 
abatement of the troubles which we are considering, your committee have 
endeavored to show warrant for their belief that the full remedy for the diffi- 
culty cannot be applied by those who are suffering frcm its effects, but is at- 
tainable by the railway companies, and must of necessity rest with them. 
That they will endeavor, if assuming the cost of the work, to adopt the 
cheapest method which offers a measure of protection to the pipes, is of 
course to be expected. But their responsibility and liability once fixed, we 
may insist upon their adoption of an absolute preventive, or their rendering 
of adequate indemnity for all electrolytic injuries to our systems. 

The regulations adopted by the special joint committee of the two Eng- 
lish houses of Parliament, to be applied to electric traction companies instal- 
ling their systems under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trade are much more 
stringent than any which have been proposed in this country. Our object is 
to secure the proper protection from injury by systems already in operation, 
of a quasi-public nature and occupying the streets like ourselves, whose ex- 
tension we would not seek to hinder or whose methods to question except 
as they entail danger or expense upon us in our exercise of rights and duties 
equally important with theirs, and materially antedating them in introduc- 
tion. 



816 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Mr. H. H. Humphreys, in his paper on this subject before: the Electric 
Club of St. Louis, remarks : 

"The courts have decided, in numerous telephone cases, that the street 
railways have a right to the use of the earth as well as other people ; but the 
question whether they would allow the railroad companies to use the gas and 
water pipes, and by using them, use them up, has never been decided that I 
know of." 

The Supreme Court of Tennessee has held, however, in an issue on behalf 
of a telephone company whose operation was affected by induction at the ad- 
vent of electric traction, that it was not the legal duty of the telephone com- 
pany to protect itself, but that it devolved upon the railway company to re- 
frain from causing injury. 

In several places where the water supply is conducted by a department of 
the municipal corporation, the commissioners have notified the railway man- 
agers that their companies would be held accountable for damages to pipes, 
and that the supply of water to their power stations was liable to interrup- 
tions unless the source of danger was removed. With the realization of the 
actuality and extent of the danger, water companies and departments all 
over the country are taking steps toward obtaining an understanding with 
the railways causing the trouble ; and especially in the cases of such cities as 
include water supply as a function of the municipality, the gas companies 
cannot do better than co-operate with them for mutual protection. If per- 
sonal and corporate interviews and correspondence with the railway people 
fail of their object, the courts may be appealed to for restraining orders. 
Application for a stay of the injunction would doubtless be made on behalf 
of the railway, and the equity of the question would then be brought to a 
hearing. But meantime the deterioration of the pipes would be progressing, 
and even with the installation of a double trolley system decided upon by 
the railways, some time would elapse before it would be completed. Your 
committee would then recommend the insulation of all renewed pipes in 
places found to be injured — the drain tile casing being probably the best for 
services and small mains and boxing filled with pitch for larger mains — and 
the use of cement joints in any new main being laid. The detection of 
leaks and the determination of unaccounted-for output are so much easier to 
gas than to water companies that any marked losses on the gas pipe lines at 
least are likely to be signalized in some manner readily recognized. 

In justice to the railway companies it must be said that they are fully 
alive to the serious character of the problem which confronts them, and are 
equally anxious with ourselves to remedy and avert the trouble. They have 
a vital interest in the matter apart from the liability under which they rest 
for damages to other underground metallic systems, for the solution of the 
electrolytic question means to them a marked reduction in operating expen- 
ses, greater efficiency of the motors, and relief from the menace of inter- 
rupted water supply. But they naturally hesitate to accede immediately to 
demands which would involve the reconstruction of so considerable a portion 
of their plants ; and as one of the electrical journals states, while the double 
trolley would remove all cause for complaint, the railway companies will 
exhaust every other means before going to the expense which that remedy 
would involve. But with recognition of the justice of claims for indemnity 
for injuries to our distributing lines, and a clear demonstration — such as is 



ELECTROLYSIS. 817 



now being afforded in several directions — of the futility of any halfway 
measures, we think that the street railway world will eventually concede 
the superiority of the double trolley and its kindred systems. 

Your committee then summarize their findings as follows : 

First. — Electrolysis from the grounded currents of electric roads is rap- 
idly injuring gas and water pipes, and it is admitted bystreet railway people 
that the injury does proceed from their operations. 

Second.— Complete relief from its action cannot be reached by any de- 
vice applicable by those injured, but is attainable by certain changes in the 
electric railways. 

Third. — The gas and water interest should unite in demands for reme- 
dial measures which shall secure the adoption of systems undoubtedly effec- 
tive, and which will thereby avoid a revival of the question a few years 
hence. 

Fourth. — Pending the discussion or completion of the relieving systems, 
the pipes should be protected at exposed points, at which the policy of in- 
creasing the resistance by insulation should be followed rather than that of 
increasing the conductivity by wiring. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Geo, T. Thompson, ) 

Alten S. Miller, - Committee. 

Jas. Somerville, ) 



Chicago, III., May 8, 1895. 
E. C. Converse, V.-P. & G. M. National Tube Works Co., New York, N. Y. 

I have received a latter from Mess. Hoge & Swift under date of April 
25th, which contains some information that may be of value to you. Mr. 
Swift was at Seattle and aided Mr. Brooks all he could to obtain the contract 
at Ballard. Although they were not successful there they think they have 
gained Seattle. 

I have been having some correspondence with Mess. Hoge & Swift and 
with the different local managers of the National Tube Works Co., as well 
as yourself, in regard to the comparative action of electricity on Kalamein 
pipe vs. cast-iron, and in this letter Mr. Swift says : 

The experience of the City of Seattle with the two types of pipe shows up favorably to 
Kalamein. AlineofS-inch Kalamein pipe laid in Pike Street, Seattle, about twelve years ago 
and subjected to electrical action for seven or eight years, while affected at one point was 
only eaten through in spots ; whereas a line of 16-inch cast-iron pipe in Rainier Street, 
Seattle, exposed for only twelve to thirteen months, was eaten along the entire length of the 
pipe to a depth of 20 to 25 per cent, of its thickness. While we are, of course, glad to have 
this testimony of experience, we do not purpose making use of the circumstance further 
than to combat any statements unfavorable to Kalamein pipe which may be made by our 
cast-iron friends on this score. In other words we shall ignore the whole question of elec- 
trolysis unless compelled to defend ourselves, which we judge it to be entirely proper to 
do to the extent of the statement of the above facts. 

His latter remark is occasioned by a previous letter of mine to him 
stating it was not advisable to advocate Kalamein pipe as being impervious 
to the action of electricity ; that that matter had better be dropped out of 
all arguments. 

(Signed) Chas. A. Lamb, Local Manager. 



818 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



ELECTROLYSIS IN BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
Reports of the Board of Commissioners of Eeectricae Subways. 

One of the inconveniences incident to the introduction of the electric 
railway system was briefly referred to in the report of the Board for 1892, as 
of uncertain character and extent, says the Water and Gas Review, March, 
1895. It has proven to be of a very serious nature. This is the corrosion of 
gas pipes, water pipes, and the lead covering of telephone cables. Wherever 
the destructive action has caused a leak, either of water or gas, the fact has 
been discovered and the injured section removed. These discoveries have 
of late been so numerous that there seems no escape from the conclusion 
that metal pipes of all kinds extending below the surface along the routes of 
the trolley cars are being in many places destroyed. 

The cause of the difficulty is now well determined. In many other 
cities a similar experience has been recorded. The electrical experts are in 
accord regarding the origin of the injury. The electric current which pro- 
pels the cars is discharged through the wheels to the rails. If the latter 
were continuous conductors the corrosion difficulty would not exist. But 
the imperfect contacts at the rail joints, even with the best devices for pro- 
viding a path for the current around the joint, impairs the conductivity to 
such an extent that the earth in the vicinity becomes charged with the cur- 
rent which was designed for the rails, and plays to considerable extent the 
part of a return wire. Iron or lead pipes extending along the route below 
the surface become charged with the current. This condition involves a 
discharge at some point, and here the electrolytic action is established which, 
bit by bit, carries away the metal, or rather converts it into a compound 
which in the moist earth is readily detached. When this action is confined 
to a limited area, as at an abrupt bend in the pipes, the corrosion is rapid, 
but when it is distributed along a stretch of several hundred feet, as in the 
case of a Court street telephone cable recently ruined by this means, the de- 
structive action is slower but is, nevertheless, constant and sure. 

A section of iron water pipe recently brought to the office of this Board 
exhibits a complete perforation which was caused in four weeks. It had 
been part of a service pipe lying four feet below the trolley track. It is evi- 
dent that better means must be provided for the conduction of the return 
current of the trolley system. In a few cases, where a rapid corrosive ac- 
tion has been discovered, the expedient of making a copper connection be- 
tween the corroding surface and the return conductor between the rails, has 
been successfully tried. 

A more comprehensive plan is in progress of trial on one or two of the 
electric railways in New England. It consists in welding the rails to con- 
tinuous length of two thousand or more feet. The success of this experi- 
ment is not yet fully assured. 

It should be said in behalf of the electricians of the trolley companies 
that there has been no lack of vigilance in aiding to discover the locations of 
injurious electrical action, or in applying the proper remedy. 

In view of the fact that the problem of preventing electrical corrosion to 
service pipes underlying the trolley tracks is not yet satisfactorily solved, the 
proposed extension of electric system under a lately granted franchise may 
be regarded by the city engineers with some anxiety, as a portion of the 



si!) 




ELECTROLYSIS. 821 



route lies along the line of one of the largest water mains. Not only should 
absolute protection from electric corrosion be guaranteed by the Trolley 
Company, but constant watchfulness should be maintained without expense 
to the city. 

A special report on the injury to telephone cables may be found in the 
appendix. 

(Appendix.) 

The New York & New Jersey Telephone Co., ) 
General Superintendent's Office, 
16 Smith Street, 
Brooklyn, N. Y., December 13th, 1893. J 

Hon. Board of Electrical Subways, Brooklyn, N. V. 

Gentlemen: — In response to inquiry regarding the action of the escaping trolley cur- 
rent upon the lead covering of our underground cables, I beg to say that five cables have 
been damaged so seriously, as to cause failure and their removal from the underground 
conduits on Court street and on Flatbush avenue. Investigation shows that cables on At- 
lantic avenue, Third avenue, Court street, Flatbush avenue and Manhattan avenue are 
also affected, but not j-et seriously. The destructive action is due to electrolysis of the lead 
cover of the cable, caused by the current which reaches the cable covering through the 
earth on its way back to the dynamo, leaving the cable at points where the cable is posi- 
tive to the earth. We have been able in some cases to reduce the trouble by connecting the 
cables to the return wire of the trolley road, on poles and underground between the tracks^ 
but as the trolley system is being rapidly extended, and the location of the source of powei 
and the direction of the current both subject to change, we have had much difficulty in se 
curing tests upon which reliable action can be taken. Along Fulton street, where the ele- 
vated railroad is used as part of the return circuit for the trolley current, we have so far 
suffered no injury, and it is probable that safety can be secured along other routes only by 
the use on the part of the trolle}' roads of copper returns supplementary to the rails of the 
track, and of sufficient size to carry the current which now leaks from the rails through 
the earth to all other metal conductors ; much has been done in this direction by the sev- 
eral roads. Our experience would indicate that the safety of metal rjipes of all kinds, 
placed in the earth, as well as economy of operation, requires that the return system should 
be complete. Respectfully yours, 

J. C. Reilly, General Superintendent. 

Special Report. 

Brooklyn, Jan. 29, 1894. 
Hon. Charles A. Schieren, Mayor of Brooklyn. 

Dear Sir : — The Board of Commissioners of Electrical Subways beg 
leave to submit the following report as an appendix to the annual report 
submitted December 15th, 1893. It relates to a single subject, viz.; the cor- 
rosion of water pipes, gas pipes and telephone cables by the return current 
of the trolley electric system. 

The following report would have formed a part of the earlier communi- 
cation, but the materials for it were not then obtainable. 

The injury briefly referred to in the previous report can now be more 
completely specified and described by aid of the diagrams submitted here- 
with. 

No. 1. The lead covering of a telephone cable in a conduit near corner 
of Court street and Fourth place. The cable laid in pitch on the bottom of 
the duct. The pitch proved no protection. 

No. 2. The covering of a telephonic cable In a conduit on Court street, 
between First place and Fourth place. 

No. 3. Another portion of same cable as shown in No. 2. 

No. 4. The covering of a cable in a manhole at corner of Atlantic ave 



822 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



nue and Smith street. The failure of the cable afforded the first intimation 
of the injury. A heavy trolley current had apparently followed the cable 
and left for the ground at this point. 

No. 5. From a cable under the rail of the Fifth avenue trolley line 
near Flatbush avenue. The same cable was also badly corroded at Bergen 
street. 

No. 6. From a cable between Carroll and President streets in Court 
street. 

No. 7. An iron water pipe which had been in the ground under the 
trolley track in Second avenue for about a year. 

No. 8. An iron pipe used to replace No. 7, which had been destroyed 
by corrosion. The indentation and perforation which may be seen near left 
hand end of the pipe, were produced in thirty days. 

No. 9. A lead water pipe taken from four feet below the surface on 
Second avenue near Fifty fourth street. 

The experience of Brooklyn is not notably different from that of Boston 
and Cambridge, Mass., Milwaukee, Wis., Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, 
Ind., and Hamilton, Ont. In each of these cities similar corrosions have 
been detected, and in none is there any doubt as to the cause. It is known 
to be due to the imperfections of the means provided by the Trolley Com- 
panies for the conveyance of the electrical current back to the generator. 
It was at first supposed that the rails would be sufficient, but the current de- 
clines to take that route exclusively. 

The remedy for the evil will have been applied when the Trolley Com- 
panies shall have provided an adequate route for the electric current now 
discharged into the rails. It was at first reasonably supposed that the rails 
would afford a sufficient path. Upon the failure of this plan, a copper con- 
nection to carry the current by the joint was tried. In most cases this expe- 
dient failed of complete success, except where the copper bond had unusual 
dimensions. An account of some experiments published in the Electrical 
Engineer may be profitably quoted here. ' ' The resistance per mile of 
double track road was found to be 0.7675 ohm in dry earth without bonds 
connecting the rails. Where the rails were bonded with iron wire of No. 3 
gauge and cross connected without a continuous return wire the re- 
sistance was 0.0797 ohms with dry and 0.0717 ohms with wet earth. 
Where the track was formed with No. 3 copper wire bonds riveted to 
the rails, each bond soldered to a continuous copper wire of the same 
gauge, and the rails cross-connected every 200 feet, the resistance was 
0.0207 ohm with wet earth. When the track was made in the same way as 
in the last example, but further improved by soldering the riveted bonds to 
the rails and spacing the cross-connections closer together, the resistance 
when earth was dry amounted to 0.0254 ohm. Track bonded with No. 4 
galvanized iron wires without a continuous return wire had a resistance of 
0.0577 ohm when the earth was dry. 

These figures show that some bond is necessary, and, furthermore, that 
the resistance of the rail section is so slight that the calculated resistance of 
the bonds accounts for nearly all of that observed. This suggests a practical 
point, namely, the desirability of making the bonds larger than is now the 
usual practice and omitting the return wire. The effect of this wire has 
long been generally acknowledged to be small, and its value to be chiefly as 



823 




824 




ELECTROLYSIS. 825 



a supplement to the bonds. There is a strong tendency now to do away 
with it entirely. It increases the conductivity of the return circuit some- 
what, but probably not as much as if the metal in it were used to make 
larger bonds. A Johnson section 80, No. 254, girder rail, for example, 
weighing 80 pounds per yard, has about the same conductivity as a copper 
wire \% inches in diameter, while a section H, 60-pound Lewis & Fowler 
box rail, has about the same resistance as a copper wire 1% inches in 
diameter. No such amounts of copper have yet been used to make bonds, 
and until they have the possibilities of rail returns have not been exhausted. 
If the copper in the return wire in the third kind of track mentioned in the 
last paragraph were placed in the bonds, the latter would be over an inch in 
diameter instead of 0.23 inch, and the actual conductivity of the return over 
thirteen fold greater. This shows that water, gas and telephone mains can 
be protected by better track construction, which will prove as advantageous 
to the railway company as to the other interests. This is one of the means 
of protecting mains from electrolysis, and suggests the following as a second 
method, which in most cases can probably be applied without much trouble. 

This second method is merely the connection by metal circuits of the 
water mains, gas pipes and telephone cables, to which some electricity will 
probably always pass, with the generators at the points where there is the 
least resistance to return currents. These are not necessarily the points 
where the distance between the pipes and the generators is the shortest, for 
it is possible to have this shortest line through dry sand, and a line nearly a 
few hundred feet longer through moist earth with less resistance. The 
electricity of the return current would be apt to leave the pipes at the moist 
places under such conditions, and it is possible that the return metal circuit 
should be located here, although somewhat longer than at another point. 
Old rails, heavily bonded, have been suggested for such a use, and would 
probably prove satisfactory. 

It should be said in regard to this second method, that in making con- 
nections with the underground system of pipes and cables that the points of 
such connections would require frequent examination. A copper connection 
with an iron pipe underground would not long remain a reliable conductor 
unless special care and watchfulness were given to it. 

A better way to insure the conduction of the current is doubtless to 
make the car rail continuous by welding. This method will be employed 
on the new trolley line soon to be built in the southern part of the city. 

The most complete solution of the problem is afforded by the double 
trolley, by which the current is provided for by an overhead wire similar to 
the one for the outgoing current. But it is to be hoped that it will not 
be necessary to resort to this method. 

Some notes of experiments obtained through the kindness of Mr. I. H. 
Farnham, Electrician, of the N. E. Telephone Co., and relating to the early 
experience in Boston, are here given. 

When the action of the current was first noticed, the experiment of 
grounding the cables to lead plates buried in manholes, was tried on quite 
an extensive scale, but was soon abandoned as being impracticable. The 
quantity of electricity to be dealt with was so enormous that the buried 
plates offered no appreciable protection to the cables. If such a system 



826 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



were feasible, the expense for the constant renewal of plates would be very- 
large. 

The severity of the action may be diminished, to a certain limited 
extent, by so arranging the direction of the current used for the street rail- 
ways, as to make it pass out over the trolley wires, and back through the 
ground. In this way the direction of the current would be quite generally 
from the earth to the cables, thus diminishing in certain places the corrosive 
action. This method would not be a complete protection from the corrosive 
action, as there would be places where the current would still flow from the 
cables. Even though the current is uniformly to the earth from the cables, 
there is the possibility of an action caused by alkaline substances formed 
about a cable, due to the decomposition by the current from the street cars 
of the soluble salts contained in the surrounding earth. These alkaline 
substances are capable, under certain conditions, of dissolving the lead, 
when the currents are shut off or much reduced, as would be the case at 
night. 

As there has been some misunderstanding in regard to the potential 
measurements made in connection with the numerous corrosion investiga- 
tions, it should, perhaps, be impressed upon those who are about to carry 
on similar investigation, that the potential measurements between the 
cables or pipes, and the material surrounding them should, in the majority 
of cases, only be looked upon as indicating the direction in which the cur- 
rent tends to flow. 

To say that the pipes and cables are even practically safe frorn corrosion, 
when the measurements are below a specified figure, would be extremely 
misleading. These measurements are, in a certain sense, like the measure- 
ments which might be made in an electrolytic cell, between one of the 
electrodes and various portions of the electrolyte, so that it is possible to 
conceive of almost zero potentials in the immediate vicinity of the most 
violent electrolytic corrosive actions. 

The fact should be closely borne in mind that whenever we have a 
current passing from an easily oxidizable metal to the liquid such as would 
be encountered in the earth, corrosion is bound to occur. 

A large number of electrolytic experiments have been carried out, 
showing the extremely low potentials (measurements between the electrodes) 
at which corrosion is found to take place. In many cases iron and lead 
were destroyed under the conditions encountered in the underground 
systems at potentials considerably under .5 volt. 

The conclusions fairly drawn from these notes and from our own experi- 
ence is that considerable injury is being done to underground pipes and 
cables, and that it will continue along the lines of the trolley roads (except 
where the elevated railway extends above them) until better methods of 
returning the current to a generator are put in practice. 

The electricians of the several trolley roads are fully aware of the situa- 
tion and have speedily applied means of prevention in localities where the 
corrosion had been detected. But it is doubtful if the method of final cure 
of the difficulty has yet passed the experimental stage. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Geo. W. Peympton, 
Fred. R. LEE, 

Commissioners. 



827 







"', 




■y% 




1 
















' :".-t) 









RUSTING OF IRON. 829 



RUSTING OF IRON. 

CHEMICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE RUSTING OF IRON. 
By Professor A. Crum Brown, F. R. SS. L. and E., Edinburgh. 

In this short paper there is, so far as I know, no new fact described. I 
believe everything, or nearly everything, in it is to be found in the records of 
chemical research ; but as I find that the process involved in the rusting of 
iron is often misunderstood, I have thought it might be worth while to put 
together the known facts in their connection. My attention was first called 
to the subject by observing what happens when a drop of rain falls on a 
clean, bright surface of iron. At first, for a short time, the drop remains 
clear, and the bright surface of the iron is seen through it ; but soon a 
greenish precipitate forms in the drop, and this rapidly becomes reddish- 
brown. The brown precipitate does not adhere to the iron, but is suspended 
in the water, and becomes a loosely adherent coating only when the water 
has evaporated. 

I may premise that, in speaking of rusting, I mean the formation of 
rust on the surface of metallic iron, exposed to ordinary atmospheric con- 
ditions. I do not intend to treat of the corrosion of iron, by substances such 
as sulphuric or sulphurous acid, hydrochloric acid, or any other occasional 
impurities which may be present in the air. 

It has been conclusively shown, that the necessary conditions for the 
production of rust are, ist, metallic iron ; 2nd, liquid water ; 3rd, oxygen ; 
and 4th, carbonic acid, both the latter being dissolved in the liquid water. 

Iron remains quite free from rust in an atmosphere containing oxygen, 
carbonic acid and water vapor, so long as the water vapor does not condense 
as liquid water on the surface of the iron. 

Let us consider now the action on iron of the three substances, liquid 
water, oxygen and carbonic acid, first singly, and then two and two. 

Liquid water, quite free from dissolved gases, does not act on iron at 
ordinary temperatures. At high temperatures, very rapidly at a red heat, 
iron is oxidised by water or water vapor, and is converted into the magnetic 
oxide of iron. This magnetic oxide is formed on the surface of the iron as an 
adherent coating, and only when it is detached can the water gain access to 
lower layers of the iron. 

Oxygen gas alone does not act at ordinary temperatures on iron. At 
high temperatures it also converts the iron into the magnetic oxide, which 
forms an adherent coating. 

The same is the case with carbonic acid gas, acting alone. At ordinary 
temperatures it is without action. At high temperatures the carbonic acid 
is reduced to carbonic oxide, and the iron is oxidised to magnetic oxide, 
which forms an adherent coating. 

Liquid water with oxygen dissolved in it does not act at ordinary tern- 



830 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



peratures on iron. This is shown by the fact that ordinary water, exposed 
to the air, does not rust iron if the water contains a substance, such as lime 
or caustic alkali, capable of combining with carbonic acid, and itself with- 
out action on iron. As long as the lime or caustic alkali is there, no rusting 
occurs. When the lime or caustic alkali has been converted by the carbonic 
acid of the air into carbonate, then, and not till then, can the carbonic acid 
of the air dissolve, as such, in the water, and then and not till then, does 
rusting begin. 

Water, containing carbonic acid dissolved in it, acts on iron at ordinary 
temperatures, forming ferrous carbonate, which dissolves in the carbonic 
acid water, forming, no doubt, ferrous bicarbonate. In this way artificial 
chalybeate water has been prepared by shaking up finely divided iron with 
carbonic acid water. In this action, hydrogen gas is given off. Solutions 
have thus been prepared containing nearly one tenth per cent, of iron. If 
oxygen is present dissolved in the water, it will unite with the nascent hy- 
drogen ; and if we have sufficient water, iron, and carbonic acid, the whole 
of the dissolved oxygen will be thus consumed. The presence of dissolved 
oxygen quickens the solution of the iron, the tendency of the oxygen to 
combine with the nascent hydrogen supplying an additional motive to 
to action. Probably in ordinary rusting no hydrogen actually becomes 
free, as under ordinary conditions there will always be enough dissolved 
oxygen to convert all the nascent hydrogen into water. 

When a solution of ferrous bicarbonate is exposed to an atmosphere con- 
taining neither free oxygen nor carbonic acid, it loses carbonic acid, and in- 
soluble ferrous carbonate is precipitated. If free oxygen is present in the 
atmosphere to which it is exposed, the ferrous carbonate is oxidized to ferric 
hydrate, carbonic acid being given off. This, if the water is not already 
saturated with carbonic acid, dissolves in the water. 

We can now follow the whole process of rusting, and divide it into stages 
— these stages being really separable, if we take proper precautions, but, in 
the usual case, overlapping one another. 

We have, ist, the formation of ferrous soluble bicarbonate ; 2nd, the con- 
version of ferrous bicarbonate into ferric hydrate, the white ferrous carbonate 
passing through green and black intermediate substances into the reddish, 
brown ferric hydrate, i. e. rust. 

We have to note that the carbonic acid dissolved in the liquid water, 
which is necessary for the process of rusting, is not used up in the process. 
It is given off during the oxidation of the ferrous bicarbonate to ferric hy- 
drate, and is thus ready to act on the new surface of the metallic iron. The 
continuation of the process of rusting is not, therefore, dependent on new 
carbonic acid absorbed from the air, but the original carbonic acid, if not 
removed, can carry on the process indefinite^, as long as liquid water is 
present, and oxygen is supplied from the air. Once the process is started, 
it goes on more rapidly, because the porous rust not only does not protect 
the iron, but favors by its hygroscopic character, the condensation of water 
vapor from the air as liquid water. Apiece of iron, therefore, which has 
begun to rust, will continue rusting in an atmosphere not saturated with 
water vapor, an atmosphere in which a piece of clean iron will not rust, 
because liquid water will condense from such an atmosphere on the hygro- 
scopic rust, but not on the bright iron. 



RUSTING OF IRON. s:il 



DISCUSSION. 

Mr. Jeremiah Head said that the paper was of special interest to him , 
because it contained the statement that water containing lime would not 
rust bright iron. About ten or twelve years ago he heard Mr. T. Hawksley, 
the well-known hydraulic engineer, say that a bright needle put into pure 
distilled water, in a vessel from which all air was carefully excluded, would 
not rust. He went home and tried the experiment. He took three or four 
ordinary test tubes, and filled them with water that had been twice or thrice 
distilled. In each test-tube, whilst the water was still boiling, he placed a 
large, new and bright needle, and carefully corked the tube in such a way 
that no air was included. The tubes were then turned upside down, and 
kept in a cabinet. Not the smallest globule of air or gas was at first visible. 
At the same time he put a similar needle into a similar test-tube filled with 
pure lime-water, that was to say, trebly-distilled water which had been al- 
lowed to dissolve a little quicklime. He had examined the specimens from 
year to year down to the present time. Those that were put in distilled 
water had all rusted, and about a third of the water had disappeared, gas, 
which he supposed to be hydrogen, occupying its place. The needle how- 
ever, which he put into lime was as bright to-day as it was twelve years ago. 

Sir Uowthiau Bell, F. R. S., said there appeared to be an easy explana- 
tion of Mr. Head's experiment. It was clear that the water could not 
possibly get out of the tube without some gas, probably atmospheric air, 
containing, as it always did, some carbonic acid, entering from the outside. 
There were, then, the conditions present in Mr. Head's experiments referred 
to in the paper, namely, water and carbonic acid gas. 

M. Gautier asked if the author could explain the presence of ammonia 
in the rust of iron ? It was general^ understood that the water was decom- 
posed, that the oxygen was in combination with the iron, and that hydrogen 
was combining with the nitrogen of the air to make ammonia. He did not 
see in the paper any reference to the presence of ammonia, which was cer- 
tainly to be found in rust. 

Mr. Snelus, F. R. S., wished to remind the Institute of an instance in 
which the rust of iron had been going on for a great many years in some 
boilers. The explanation given was rather a remarkable one, and the rust- 
ing was cured by a knowledge of the facts which had just been disclosed in 
the paper, namely, that water, especially soft water, containing oxygen, 
was capable of rusting iron. When he first went to Dowlas, Mr. Menelaus 
called his attention to some boiler where the water sludge came away almost 
blood-red from the rust. His predecessor had investigated the case, and 
had found copper in the residue, and he had assumed that the water which 
was corroding the boilers contained a copper salt. He knew something 
about the puddling of the iron of which the boilers were made, and he traced 
the copper, not to the water going into the boilers, but to the blue billy used 
in the puddling. The copper had got into the metal, and was found in the 
residue ; it came from the iron, and not from the water. That had led him 
to conclude that the rusting had not occurred because there was a copper salt 
in the water, but because they were using peaty water, which was very pure 
and soft, and contained a large quantity dissolved of carbonic acid. He 
then recommended that some lime should be put in the reservoirs ; that was 



832 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



done and immediately the whole thing was cured, and there had not been the 
least trouble since. Of course that was simply an illustration of what had 
been stated in the paper, and agreed with Mr. Head's observation. With 
soft water, the oxygen and carbonic acid dissolved in it attacked the iron, 
and rusting went on more rapidly than with hard water. He had applied 
lime in this way many times, and always found the same result. 

Mr. Turner (Mason College, Birmingham), said that four years ago he 
hermetically sealed some bright iron in a tube filled with distilled water, 
and when he looked at the specimen a month or two ago, it was still per- 
fectly bright. There was, however, a very small quantity of what was prob- 
ably ferrous hydrate, a light green precipitate, at the bottom of the tube. It 
was stated in the paper that rusting went on more rapidly when a certain 
amount of rust was present on the surface. Of course they were familiar 
with that, but he thought that in his account of the causes of rust the author 
had omitted the electrical side of the question. Some interesting experi- 
ments had been performed three or four years ago by Dr. Tilden and were 
published in the journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, in connection 
with the pitting of boiler tubes made of yellow metal, which tubes were apt 
to suffer from the formation of little pit holes. A number of explanations 
were given. It was supposed that the metal was not homogenous in charac- 
ter, and other causes were suggested ; but Dr. Tilden showed that the holes 
were usually produced by small particles of dirt, which acted electrically, 
becoming negative when in contact with the yellow metal and immersed salt 
water ; then a film of oxide would be formed, and this oxide would again be 
negative to the metal underneath, and there would be electrical action, so 
that the part covered with dirt or particles of iron rust, or even a small 
quantity of oxide of the metal itself, would be perforated as with a small 
drill. Now, what was true of yellow metal was no doubt true of iron rust, 
so that if the}' wanted to protect the surface either of yellow metal or of iron 
from corrosion, cleanliness was one of the most important things to be 
observed. Removing the rust prevented this electrical action, and protected 
the metal. The importance of this electrical action was illustrated in the 
difference of the behavior between tin plates on the one hand, and galvan- 
ized iron on the other. In the first case when the coating of tin was once 
perforated, since tin is negative to iron, the metal underneath rusted more 
readily owing to the presence of the tin ; while in galvanized iron, when the 
coating of zinc was perforated, since zinc if positive to iron, the zinc which 
still remained protects the adjacent iron from rust. 

A member said that the paper was very interesting to all users of boilers. 
He wished to say a few words arising out of the statement made by the 
previous speaker. About seven years ago he erected several steel boilers for 
generating steam, and alongside them some small heaters for heating the 
water. The water was heated by the waste heat of low-heating furnaces. It 
was a case in which the heat was not sufficiently hot to generate steam 
direct, and therefore low-heating furnaces were used for heating the water, 
and high-heating furnaces for generating steam. He also erected an iron 
heater alongside a steel heater. The heaters were 5 feet in diameter, with a 
tube of 30 inches through them, and five Galloway tubes inside. After 
working nearly two years, the inspector condemned the steel heater as being 
unfit for use on account of pitting ; while the iron heater ( made of an 



RUSTING OF IRON. 833 



old boiler) was not acted upon to anything like the same extent. On 
close examination, he found that corrosion was going on from the water 
upon the tubes of the iron hea f er, but they were more in the nature 
of patches than of deep-seated cankering ; while upon the steel heater 
the pitting was of a most serious character. He had the water analyzed, 
but there was no evidence of the cause. After trying every method he 
could think of, he, one day, noticed that from one of the wheel pits there 
was an escape of oil from the reservoir, which mixed the water in 
such small proportions that it was scarcely discernible when analyzed. 
He diverted it from the stream, and the pitting ceased. The boiler, 
which was condemned two years ago, was now at work, and was reported 
to be a better heater than it was previously. He did not profess to know 
anything about the matter chemically, but he was speaking of what 
had passed under his own observation. It might be of some interest to 
those acquainted with the chemistry of the question to study the causes 
that had led up to the facts which had been stated. 

Mr. Bauerman wished, in reference to the author's statement as to the 
porosity of rust, to call attention to the great increase of volume accompany- 
ing the change of iron into rust, which might not be generally known. From 
determinations made some years since by the late Mr. W. J. Ward and him- 
self, in Dr. Percy's laboratory, it appeared that a unit of malleable iron pro- 
duced ten times its volume of rust. 

Dr. Gibson, in the absence of Dr. Crum Brown, said that the author's 
desire had been to call attention to the essential features of the process of 
rusting under ordinary atmospheric conditions. Of course, he w T as well 
aware that different conditions would modify the process, but the main 
essential conditions were not always clearly understood. In reading some 
of the principal text-books on the subject, he (Dr. Gibson) had noticed that, 
though the influence of carbonic acid in quickening the process was re- 
marked upon, no explanation was given of the order or sequence of events. 
The question as to the influence of the electrical difference between rust 
and iron was undoubtedly important, but was sometimes made to do service 
in explanation of the whole process of rusting. It had been suggested that 
the process of rusting consisted— first, simply in direct oxidation of the iron, 
and that the reason why the rusting proceeded more rapidly, once a coating 
of rust had been formed, was that an electrical couple was set up between 
the metallic iron and the rust ; then portions of the rust nearest the iron 
were supposed to give up oxygen to the iron immediately below, and to 
take up oxygen from the air, so that the rust acted as a sort of carrier of the 
oxygen to the iron. In this view, the real influence of the rust in causing 
a more rapid oxidation by reason of its porous nature and its hygroscopic 
character, which caused the water to condense on the surface of the iron, 
was altogether overlooked. Of course, the formation of ammonia was a 
very important accompaniment of the process of rusting under certain con- 
ditions. He believed that the essential features of the process of rusting 
had not been brought forward before in their true connection ; at least, he 
had not been able to find them. He was quite sure that Professor Crum 
Brown would be very much pleased with the disussion which had arisen from 
his short paper. 

The President proposed a vote of thanks to Professor Crum Brown for 
his interesting paper, and also to Dr. Gibson for his explanation of it. 



834 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



CORROSION OF IEOI AND STEEL. 

Mr. P. H. Williams gives the results of comparative corrosion tests of a 
plate of iron and a similar plate of steel, placed in a mixture of yellow loam 
and sand to which various alkali salts and magnesium chloride were added. 

The following were the results : 





LOSS PER CENT. 




After 33 days. 


After 61 days. 


Iron 


084 
0.72 


2 06 


Steel 


1.79 





PREVENTION OF RUST. 

A. Biicker states that the formation of rust on articles made of iron or steel 
may be prevented by the use of the following solution : ij{ pint distilled 
water, 50 grains of tartaric acid, 150 grains of stannous chloride, 30 grains 
of mercuric chloride and 750 grains of indigo solution with 100 times its 
volume of water. — The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, Vol. if, i8gi, 
pa%e j 19. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 835 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



NEW YORK " HERALD " BUILDING. 

New York, June 27th, 1895. 
National Tube Works Co. 

While passing the old Herald Building at the corner of Broadway 
and Ann Street to-day, my attention was attracted by the fine appearance of 
some 4-inch unprotected wrought-iron water pipe, which the men engaged 
in razing the structure were taking out of the masonry of the walls. When 
the piece of wrought iron pipe was thrown on to the truck, I had an oppor- 
tune of examining it carefully, both inside and out, and it was remarkable 
for its perfect state of preservation on both surfaces. A close observation 
of the interior failed to reveal the slightest evidence of corrosion or roughness 
of any kind, while the outside of the pipe had no more serious defects than 
mortar stains, and a very light coat of fine powdery oxide, which was 
easily brushed off by the hand. 

As the Herald Building was erected along about 1867, this piece of 
wrought-iron water pipe had therefore been in service for about twenty-eight 
years. 

(Signed) J. W. Downer, Jr. 



SENECA PALLS WATER CO. 

On July 7th, 1895, we furnished the Seneca Falls Water 
Company with a line of 10-inch Converse Joint K. & A. Pipe, in 
substitution for a line of cast-iron pipe, removed for cause. 



KALAMEIN SHEET IRON. 



Monongaheu Furnaces, \ 
McKeesporT, Pa., Aug. 14th, 1894. 1 

National Tube Works Co : 

Kaeameined Iron : — We use this material for the roofs of our cast- 
ing houses. Our No. 1 furnace was blown in December 1st, 1890, and has 
been in continuous blast ever since. Our No. 2 furnace was blown in June 
1st, 1891, and has been in continuous blast up to the present time. So far 
as we can determine, the material is just as good to-day as the day it was put 
on. We have kept our roofs well painted ; that is to say, have painted 
them about once in twelve months, and with the exception of the scaling 
off of the paint, occasioned by the intense heat, there is no evidence of 
wear and tear. I should say that this is about as severe a test as roofing 



836 FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



material can be subjected to, as the fumes and gasses from blast furnaces 
are extremely destructive. Common black corrugated iron will not with- 
stand these more than two or at the utmost three years. I am satisfied, from 
the present appearance of our roofs, that they are good for, at least, three 
years more, and possibly five. 

W. B. SchiuES, Manager. 



KALAMEIN BOILER TUBES. 

an Bros. Boiler 1 

St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 29th, 1892 



Rohan Bros. Boiler M'f'g Co., \ 



National Tube Works Co., City . 

In answer to your inquiry about Kalameined tubes. I have been using 
your Kalameined tubes in my heaters and purifiers for the last three years 
and have not heard of one single instance of the tubes leaking or corroding. 
We had occasion to do some repairs on a heater that had been in use for two 
years, the shell, T \ thick, was pitted clean through, while the Kalameined 
tubes in this heater and under the same conditions did not show a single pit- 
mark. I consider them as good for the purpose, and almost as lasting as 
copper or brass. 

(Signed) Phie. Rohan. 

Mr. Rohan is the senior partner of Rohan Brothers Boiler 
Manufacturing Company, and is also President of the Boiler 
Makers' Association. 



CONVERSE PIPE-CAR LOADS. 

The following table will be found convenient in determining 
the number of lengths and number of feet of the respective 
sizes of Converse Joint Pipe which can be loaded in a car of 
40,000 pounds capacity. 



Size. 


Pieces in Car. 


Feet in Car. 


Size. 


Pieces in Car. 


Feet in Car 


2 1 


nch 


640 


8,832 


10 inch 


55 


I,000 


31 


nch 


400 


6,500 


12 inch 


33 


728 


41 


nch 


225 


5,000 


14 inch 


30 


6l2 


5 


nch 


171 


3,024 


15 inch 


26 


460 


6 


nch 


129 


2,444 


16 inch 


21 


394 


7 


nch 


110 


1,900 


18 inch 


15 


280 


8 


nch 


95 


1,562 


20 inch 


12 


233 


9 


nch 


65 


1,150 


24 inch 


10 


190 



THE BALLARD CASE. 

In the spring of 1895, the city of Ballard (Washington), had 
a letting for a water works system. The specifications provided 
for bids on cast-iron pipe and on Converse Lock Joint. In giv- 



MISCELLANEOUS. 837 



ing the specifications for the cast-iron pipe the City Engineers 
stipulated certain weights, which they thought necessary to with- 
stand the pressure and the service. In stipulating the specifica- 
tions of Converse Lock Joint pipe our official list was copied. 
We were represented at this letting by Messrs. Dunham, Car- 
rigan & Hayden Co., of San Francisco, and Hoge & Swift, of 
Portland, Oregon. 

I am informed that the representative of the Anniston Pipe 
& Foundry Co., of Anniston, Ala., made an argument before the 
City Engineer, that the stipulated weights of cast-iron pipe were 
all right for ordinary cast-iron pipe, but that the Anniston Pipe 
& Foundry Co. used pig-iron smelted from superior ores, produc- 
ing a product of cast-iron pipe high in tensile strength. In fact 
so high that he could guarantee to deliver cast-iron pipe of that 
particular make which would show a T. S. of not less than 27,- 
000 lbs to the square inch. 

I am informed that the specifications of cast-iron pipe were 
amended to suit this high class material. In short, a lighter class 
of cast-iron pipe was contracted for under this guarantee. Had 
it not been for this flank movement on the part of the Anniston 
representative the order would have come to us. 

When this matter was reported to the author he at once 
took steps to verify the truth of the alleged assertions, knowing 
from his experience that a large portion of charcoal foundry iron 
must be employed to produce such remarkable results. He has 
in his own hands the following documents, which bear upon this 
case. 

The bill of the Anniston Pipe & Foundry Co., dated June 
7th, 1895, in black ink, and June 12th, 1895, by red stamp, made 
out against the Millner & Kettig Co., of Birmingham, Ala., show- 
ing shipment of one piece of 6-inch cast-iron pipe weighing 390 
lbs., at $18.00, amounting to $3.50 for the piece, on order No. 
1397, car No. 70546, with P. R. R. initial. In lead pencil the bill 
is marked " For the National Tube Works, ship to them, see or- 
der." This memorandum was made by Millner & Kettig Co. 

Next document is the shipping receipt of the Millner & Ket- 
tig Co., dated June 12th, 1895, for one piece of pipe weighing 
390 lbs., at 17c. per hundred, consigned to the National Tube 
Works Co., at St. Louis, Mo. 

Next document is the freight bill of the Louisville, Evans- 
ville & St. Louis Consolidated R. R., dated East St. Louis, June 
22d, made out to the National Tube Works Co., for one piece of 
iron pipe, weight 390 lbs., freight charges 66c. 



838 



FACTS ABOUT PIPE. 



Next document is the bill of Miller & Brockman, owners of 
a machine shop at St. Louis. Bill is dated June 24th, and is to 
cover the expense of 5 cuts of 6-inch cast-iron pipe. Then 
follows the express receipt from the National Tube Works 
Company to Assistant General Manager Horace Crosby, at 
McKeesport, covering the 4 pes. of cast-iron pipe. 

Then follows the official report of the Pittsburgh Testing 
Laboratory, Limited, of the testing of these four pieces of pipe. 
The records being as follows : 



Laboratory 
Number. 


Original 

Mark. 


Original. 


Maximum 
Load Pounds. 


Tensile 
Strength lbs. 


Dimensions. 


Area. 


per sq. in. 


9323 
9324 
9325 
9326 


I 
2 

3 
4 


.997 X .485 
I- x .554 
I. x .490 

.996 x .525 


.484 
• 554 
.490 

•523 


8,000 

10,000 

8,000 

8,IOO 


16,330 
18,050 
16,330 
I5>49° 



Next document is a letter from Local Manager Coit, of the 
St. Louis house, stating : 

In accordance with request conveyed by Vice-President Converse's let- 
ter of May 31st, attached hereto, I send you to-day by express, four pieces of 
6-inch cast-iron pipe, each 12 inches long. 

That the pipe may be identified, I enclose you original bill of the 
Anniston Pipe & Foundry Co., for the length from which these pieces were 
cut. 

Then follows a letter from the McKeesport offices of the 
National Tube Works Co., as follows : 

We enclose herewith correspondence relating to cast-iron pipe, for 
which the Anniston Pipe & Foundry Co. has contracted to supply the town 
of Ballard, on the Pacific Coast. 

In accordance with your instructions, we had the samples tested by the 
Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory, Pittsburgh, Pa., the results being described 
fully in their report also enclosed. As a matter of interest, we also had our 
chemist make an analysis of the material, which you will find attached to 
the correspondence. 



The next document is the report of the National Tube Works 
Co.'s chemist, reading as follows : 



MISCELLANEOUS. 839 



Laboratory of National Tube Works Co. 

McKeesport, Pa., 7-3-'95. 
Analysis of 6-inch cast-iron pipe, Anniston Pipe & Fdy. Co. : 

Per Cent. 

Silicon 2.42 

Sulphur 052 

Phosphorus 700 

Manganese 18 

Carbon, comb 61 

Graphite 3.15 

A. K. Church. 

Chemist. 

From the study of this case you will observe that from one 
piece of pipe the tensile strength varies over 1500 lbs., showing 
inequality of material. The author has tested the tensile 
strength of cast-iron pipe a good many times during the past 
few years, and it is his experience that this pipe is top-notch. 

We have no fault to find with the quality of this cast-iron 
pipe. It seems to be superior, but in so far as it will show 
27,000 T. S. or anything over 20,000 T. S. the records speak for 
themselves. 

If we are not misinformed regarding the conditions of this 
case, the Anniston people are in a bad box, for they cannot pro- 
duce an article of cast-iron pipe that will stand 27,000 T. S. 
from any scrap or pig iron usually employed in foundry work. 

A foot-note on the bill of the Anniston Pipe & Foundry Co., 
is a very good evidence of their admission of the treacherous 
character of cast-iron pipe as a material — the foot-note reads 
"Do not receipt for pipe broken, or damaged in transit, but notify 
us at once." From this you will observe that broken and dam- 
aged pipe by simple handling must be a matter of trade recog- 
nition and must be provided for by this trade law. 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 841 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Transporting Converse Joint Pipe over Mountain Trails 272 

Vallejo, Cal. — Profile of 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe Line 291 

Vallejo, Cal. — Camp Converse 292 

Vallejo, Cal. — Camp Converse 293 

Vallejo, Cal. — Laying 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe 294 

Vallejo, Cal. — Laying 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe 297 

Vallejo, Cal. — Laying 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe 298 

Vallejo, Cal. — Laying 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe 299 

Vallejo, Cal. — 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe laid without the use of Specials 300 

Vallejo, Cal. — 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe laid without the use ot Specials 301 

Vallejo, Cal. — 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe laid without the use of Specials 302 

Vallejo, Cal. — 10" Converse Lock Joint Pipe laid without the use of Specials 303 

Converse Lock Joint Pipe Stored in Warehouse at San Francisco, Cal 304 

Unearthing the Broken Pipe, Brooklyn. .. 319 

Burst Cast Iron Pipe which cost Chicago about $150,000, View r 338 

Burst Cast Iron Pipe which cost Chicago about $150,000, View 2 339 

An Accident in an Engine Room 343 

Defective new Cast Iron Pipe, McKeesport, Pa 354 

Where the Main Burst — New York 357 

Section of Cast Iron Water Pipe from Fall River, Mass 390 

Tuberculated Cast Iron Pipe — Yorkshire 394 

Tuberculated Cast Iron Pipe — Philadelphia 410 

Tuberculated Cast Iron Pipe— Philadelphia 411 

Cast Iron Pipe Condemned at Chicago and Sold as Scrap, View No. 1 436 

Cast Iron Pipe Condemned at Chicago and Sold as Scrap, View No. 2 438 

Cast Iron Pipe Condemned at Chicago and Sold as Scrap, View No. 3 440 

Cast Iron Pipe Condemned at Chicago and Sold as Scrap, View No. 4 442 

Machine for Cutting off Injured Ends of Cast Iron Pipe 454 

Burning Gas Main on Broadway 514 

Explosion of the Columbus Avenue Gas Main 518 

Chartiers Valley Gas Company — Profile of 20'' C. J. Pipe Line 550 

Chartiers Valley Gas Company— Negley's Run. View of cut averaging 20 feet 552 

Chartiers Valley Gas Company — 20" C. J. Pipe. View of cut averaging 34 feet 554 

Chartiers Valley Gas Company — View of Iron Bridge at Negley's Run — 20" C. J. Pipe. . 556 
Chartiers Valley Gas Company — Bird's-eye View of Main Line, Negley's Run — 20" C. J. 558 

Chartiers Valley Gas Company— Reducing Station— 20" C. J. Pipe 560 

Wood Stave Pipe 744 

Matheson Joint 748 

Matheson Joint 749 

Pennsylvania Tube Works Lead Joint 760 

Pennsylvania Tube Works Lead Joint 762 

Electrolysis at Milwaukee 788 

Electrolysis — Faruham — Figure 1 790 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 2 791 

Electrolysis — Farnham— Figure 3. 792 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 4 793 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 5 794 

Electrolysis— Farnham— Figure 6 799 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 7 , 795 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 8 796 

Electrolysis — Farnham— Figure 9 796 

Electrolysis— Farnham — Figure 10 797 

Electrolysis— Farnham — Figure 11 797 

Electrolysis — Farnham— Figure 12 798 

Electrolysis— Farnham— Figure 13 795 

Electrolysis — Farnham — Figure 14 800 

Electrolysis— Farnham— Figure 15 802 

Electrolysis — Farnham— Figure 16 803 

Electrolysis— Farnham— Figure 17 802 

Electrolysis— Farnham — Figure 18 804 

Electrolysis— Farnham — Figure 19 805 

Electrolysis— Farnham — Figure 20 807 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn— Figure 1 819 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn — Figure 2 820 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn — Figures 3, 4 823 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn — Figures 5, 6 S24 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn — Figures 7, S 827 

Electrolysis in Brooklyn— Figure 9 828 



842 INDEX TO FAC-SIMILES AND SUBJECTS. 



INDEX TO FAC-SIMILES. 



Addy, Matthew— fetter, June 9, 1893 668 

Addy, Matthew— Letter, June 26, 1893 670 

Addyston Pipe & Steel Company— E. A. Kebler Letter, April 21, 1893 662 

Briggs, J. G.— Letter to A. J. Guilford 98 

Briggs, J. G.— Letter, December 22, 1886 658 

Brown, Geo. H.— Signature 452, 615 

Columbia Cotton Mill Company Letter 38 

Haswell, Charles H. — Signature 603 

Kedzie, R. C— Signature 591 

Kuhn, W. S., Gen. Mgr.— Telegram, May 19, 1893 , 666 

Littleton, A. W. — Signature 619 

Manby, C. E.— Signature 596 

Monroe Water Works & Electric Light Co.— Letter 108 

Mowbray, George M. — Signature 598 

Van Schulz, A. — Signature 590 

Wuth, Otto— Signature 599 



INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 



Artificial Gas 465 

Burst and Leaky Cast Iron Gas Mains 480 

Burst Cast Iron Water Mains 315 

Cast Iron Pipe Scrap , 435 

Cast Iron Pipe Weights 445 

Cast Iron Syndicate 635 

Cement Lined Pipe 714 

Compressed Air 588 

Converse Lock Joint Water System 7 

Corroded, Incrustated and Tuberculated Cast Iron Pipe 376 

Cost of Laying Cast Iron Pipe 449 

Delivering Capacity of Wrought Iron Pipe 576 

Early Water Works 5 

Electrolysis 764 

Gas Leakage 519 

Maintenance of Cast Iron Pipe 427 

Matheson Joint 747 

Miscellaneous 835 

Natural Gas 545 

Pennsylvania Tube Works Lead Joint 760 

Reports of Chemists and Engineers 589 

Retraction 660 

Riveted Pipe 730 

Rusting of Iron . . , 829 

Specifications for Cast Iron Water Pipe 457 

Spiral Weld Pipe 736 

Theory and Practice 675 

Wood Pipe 743 

Wrought Iron, Cast Iron or Steel ? , , , 619 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



843 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



A 

Aberdeen, Dakota 15, 64 
Addyston P. & S. Co.. 81 , 83, 84, 88, 89, 106 

Adrian, Michigan 15 

Alameda Sugar Company 261 

Alamedia Water Works Co 22 

Albany, N. Y 427 

Albuquerque, N. M 15 

Albuquerque Water Co 256 

Alcott, E. E 76 

Alden, G. W 27 

Allen, Charles A 176, 195 

Altimas Water Company 58 

Alvord, John W 309 

American Institute of Architects 37 

American Water Works Ass' n. ..82, 84, 89, 107 
American W. W. & Guarantee Co., tim. 17, 66 

American Zylonite Company 136 

Amsterdam 149 

Anaconda Commercial Company 18 

Anaconda, Montana 18 

Ancient Use of Iron 37 

Ancient Use of Steel 37 

Andover 64 

Anonymous Circular 106 

Anonymous Pamphlet 96 

Aqua Pura Company 70 

Armstrong, J. U 118 

Ashland, Oregon 18 

Aspen, Colorado 19, 28, 54 

Atkinson, O'Brien J 47 

Atlanta 83 

B 

Babbitt, Lieut.-Col. L. S 21 

Badger, David Franklin 178 

Baker City Water Works 20 

Baker, R. H 15 

Ball, Mr.. .. 155 

Ballard, Wash 278, 836 

Baltimore, Md 427 

Barb, Alderman 72 

Barker, W. H 281 

Barnes, James 119, 121 

Barnes, R. W 2S3 

Barrington, F. W 107 

Barron, T. D 284 

Barstow, C. D 114 

Bear River Canal Company 119 

Beasley, Alderman of I/mgmont 72 

Belzona 37 

Benicia Arsenal 20 

Bennett, Hon. E- H 129, 151 

Berkeley, Cal 22 

Bessemer, Mich 22 

Bethlehem, Pa 5 

Billings, Montana 22 

Billings Water Power Company 23 

Bird, Sandy 107 

Birmingham Water Works 24 

Blaisdell, H. W 54 

Blake, Percy M 61, 129, 238 



Bliss, George F 44 

Boiler Makers' Ass'n 836 

Bothwell, J. R 16, 18, 23, 59, Ii8, 125, 275 

Boston, Mass 23, 428 

Bowman, J. F. . . . 308 

Box 82, 84, 89 

Brach, H. D 64 

Brainerd, Minn 25 

Brandonville, Pa 279 

Briggs, J. G 90 

Brigham City, Utah 26 

Brigham City Water Works 25 

British Museum 37 

Britton. South Dakota 26, 64 

Broadbury , W. B 260 

Brooklyn 83 

Brooks, T. W 25, 51, 260 

Brown, George W 74 

Brush, J. H 295 

Buehner, Philip 284 

Bueua Vista Water Works 27 

Buffalo Mill Company 29 

Buffalo, N. Y 83 

Buffalo, Wyoming 29 

Bundy, C. S 22 

Burnham, D. H 3°9 

Burr, E. C 261 

Butler, Alderman of Lougmont 72 

Butler, A. W 44 

Butler, Mr.— W. & M. Com.— World's Fair 310 

Butte City Water Works 29 

c 

California Power Works 261 

Calumet & Hecla Mining Company.. 67 

Cambridge, Mass 149 

Cameron, C. H 65 

Campbell, F. J 27 

Campbell, James 155 

Canfield, R. B 270 

Cannon City 72 

Carey, H 77 

Carloads— C. J. Pipe 836 

Carroll, Eugene 3° 

Carson, J. M 90 

Cartwright, Robert 256 

Cary, John S 41 

Cast Iron Pipe 118 

Cast Iron Pipe Destroyed 29, 58 

Cast Iron Pipe Replaced 71 

Cast Iron Syndicate 51, 80, 265 

Castle Creek Water Company 19 

Cave, Alfred 106 

Cavenaugh, Mr 144 

Cement Joined Pipe 97, H9 

Chadron, Nebraska — 3 1 

Chamberlain, Dakota 31 

Charleston, W. Va 32 

Chase, R. G. & Co 123 

Cheboygan, Mich 33 

Chemist's Report 113, 136 

Chester Town Water Works 51 

Chicago, 111 428 



844 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



Chicago Tribune— Waukesha Line 310 

Chicopee, Mass 33i 128 

Chihuahua, Mexico 33 

Christiansen, Hans Christoper 5 

Cincinnati 83, 429 

Cincinnati & Newport I. & P. Co., 82, 88, 106, 282 

City Gas Co. , London, Canada 71 

Claflin, F. A 150 

Clark, Ellis 67 

Clark, J. W 286 

Clark, Robert, & Co 96 

Clark, Lieut. S. E 46 

Clayburne, Tex 35 

Cleveland 83 

Clifford, Charles, Esq 129, 151 

Coe, L. E 273 

Coffin Bros 57 

Coffin, C. H 269 

Coffin, E. C 57 

Coffin, W. H 295 

Coit, E. W 838 

Colorado Machinery Co 27 

Columbia Cotton Mill Company 38 

Columbia Water Co 36 

Columbus, Ohio 83 

Columbus Water Company 39 

Commercial Gazette, Pittsburg 78 

Comstock Lode 125 

Cook, J. D 82, 84, 89 

Cooley , George M 295 

Cooper, A. C 272 

Cooper, E. A 26 

Cooper, H. T 313 

Consumers' Gas, Fuel & Light Co 43 

Consumers' Gas Company, Chicago, 111.. . 42 

Converse Joint Pipe, Carloads 836 

Corvallis, Oregon 313 

Cotter, J. E 151, 211 

Crafts, N. Henry— Testimony of 226 

Craven, A. W 83 

Creiger, Dewitt C 429 

Cress, Major John A 21 

Crosby, Horace, Asst. Gen. Mgr 838 

Cumnock, J. W 33 

Cunningham, C 114 

Daily Times, Laredo 68 
Daniel, Capt. Travers 36 

Davenport, E. R 32, 308 

Davis, Mr., of C. & N. Iron & Pipe Co.. 100, 282 

Davis, B. F.j Albuquerque, N. M 17 

Dayton, Ohio 430 

Dayton, Wash 57 

Deer Lodge Water Company 40 

Denver, Colorado 40 

Dewey, Frank S 40 

Dick, Jacob J 40 

Dickson, L- H., Mayor of Longmont 72 

Dodge, Ira C 19 

Dodge Manufacturing Co 86 

Dodge, Mr 86 

Dodge, W. H 104 

Dolaud 64 

Dormer, J. J 49 

Downer, J. W., Jr 835 

Doyle T. F 308 

Duffield, William 71 

Duluth Gas and Water Works 41 

Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company. 837 

Durability — Aberdeen 15 

Durability— Albuquerque, N. M 16, 17, 256 

Durability— American W. W. & G. Co. .. 17 

Durability — Ashland Oregon 19 

Durability — Aspen, Col 19 

Durability — Baker City 20 

Durability — Benicia Arsenal 21 

Durability— Berkeley, Cal , 22 



Durability— Bessemer, Mich 22 

Durability— Billings, Mont 23 

Durability — Britton 27 

Durability — Buena Vista 29 

Durability — Buffalo, Wyoming 29 

Durability — Butte, Montana 30 

Durability — Chamberlain, Dakota 31 

Durability — Charleston, W. Va 33 

Durability — Cheboygan, Mich 33 

Durability — Colorado Machinery Co 40 

Durability— Columbia. Teun 36, 3S 

Durability — Columbus, Texas 40 

Durability— Deer Lodge 40 

Durability — Durango 27 

Durability— El Paso de Robles 44 

Durability— Evanston, Wyoming 44 

Durability — Fenton, Mich 44 

Durability— Fergus Falls, Minn 45 

Durability— Fitchburg, Mass 45 

Durability — Fort Collins, Colorado 46 

Durability— Fort Gratiot, Mich 46, 47 

Durability — Fort Pembina. N. Dakota 49 

Durability — Fort Sherman, Idaho 50 

Durability— Fremont, Mich 50 

Durability— Fresno, Cal 51 

Durability— Fulton, 111 51 

Durability— Geneseo, 111 52 

Durability— Georgetown, Texas 52 

Durability — Glenwood Springs 54 

Durability — Gonzales, Texas 54 

Durability — Gunnison Col 57 

Durability— Hancock. Mich 58 

Durability — Helena, Montana 60, 257 

Durability— Hillsboro, N. M 62 

Durability — Holland. Mich 63 

Durability — Howland, A. H 24 

Durabil ity — Huron, Dakota 64 

Durability — Kelse3'ville, Cal 67 

Durability — Lake Linden 67 

Durability— Laredo, Texas 69 

Durability — London, Canada 71 

Durability — Longmont 74 

Durability — Los Delicios, Mexico 76 

Durability— McKeesport, Pa 78 

Durability-Mt. Pleasant. Pa 1 14 

Durability — Mandan, Dakota 77 

Durability— Mamaroneck, N. Y .. 76 

Durability — Missoula, Mont 106 

Durability— Monongahela Furnaces 835 

Durability — Muskegon, Mich in, 113 

Durability — National City 116 

Durability — Newman. Cal 117 

Durability— New York Herald Building.. 835 

Durability— Ogden, Utah 118 

Durability— Old Tacoma, Wash 121 

Durability— Ouray, Col 122 

Durability— Parker, C. L 312 

Durability — Phoenix, Ariz 124 

Durability— Pierre, Dakota 125 

Durability — Quincy, Mass 126 

Durability— St. Claire, Mich 284 

Durability — San Bernardino, Cal 259 

Durability— San Francisco, Cal 260 

Durability— San Rafael, Cal 270 

Durability — Santa Barbara 271 

Durability— Seattle, Wash 276 

Durability — Shanley, Hon. Walter 62 

Durability— Sioux Falls 283 

Durability— Snohomish, Wash 283 

Durability— Tide Water Pipe Line 36 

Durability — Tombstone, Ariz 286 

Durability— Virginia City, Nevada 306 

Durability— Wahpeton, Dakota 308 

Durability— Walla Walla, Wash 308 

Durabilitv— Warm Springs, Cal 309 

Durability— Waukesha World's Fair Line 309 

Durability— Wellsville, N. Y 312 

Durability— Whitewood, S. Dak. 

Dwight Manufacturing Company ...... 33 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



845 



Carley, John E 33 

L* Early Water Works 5 

Eatou, Fred 75 

Economy of L and L.— Albuquerque.. .15, 16 

Economy of L. and E.— Am.W. W.&G. Co. 18 

Economy of E and L. — Ashland, Oregon. 19 

Economy of I,. and L. — Aspen, Col. 19 

Economy of L. and L. — Beuicia Arsenal. . 21 

Economy of L. and E — Berkeley, Cal 22 

Economy of L. and E — Bessemer, Mich. . 22 

Economy of L. and L. — Birmingham, Ala. 24 

Economy of L. and I,. — Brainerd, Minn. . . 25 

Economy of L. and L — Britton 27 

Economy of L. and L.— Cartwright .256 

Economy of L. and L. — Charleston, W.Va. 32 

Economy of L. and L.— ColoradoMach.Co. 40 

Economy of L. and L.— Eureka, Nevada. 44 

Economy of L. and L. — Ft. Pembina, N.D. 49 

Economy of L. and E. — Ft. Sherman, Id. . 50 

Economy of E and E— Fairplay, Colo 40 

Economy of E. and E. — Fenton, Mich 44 

Economy of E and L. — Fergus Falls, Min. 45 

Economy of E and E. — Georgetown, Tex. 52 

Economy of E and E — GlenwoodSpgsCol 54 

Economy of L. and E. — Gonzales, Texas.. 55 

Economy of E. and L. — Gunnison 57 

Economy of E. and L —Harper, J. H. .. . 30 

Economy of E and L. — Helena 59, 60, 257 

Economy of E and E— Huron, Dakota. . 64 

Economy of E. and E.— Inman, George B. 282 

Economy of E. and L. — Kelseyville, Cal.. 67 

Economy of E and L —Leadville 70 

Economy of E. and E— London, Canada. 71 

Economy of E. and E — Eongmont 73 

Economy of E and L.— Los Angeles, Cal. 75 

Economy of E and E. - LosDelicios, Mex. 76 

Economy of E. and E.—Mt. Pleasant, Pa. 114 

Economy of E. and L. — Mamaroueck 76 

Economy of E and L. — NationalCity. Cal. 116 

Economy of E. and L.— Newman, Cal 117 

Economy of L. and L.—Ogden. Utah.. .. 120 

Economy of E and L.-Old Tacoma.Was. 121 

Economy of L. and L. — Ouray, Colo 122 

Economy of E and E.— Palo Alto, Cal 122 

Economy of E. and E— Phoenix, Ariz 124 

Economy of E. and E.— Quincy, Mass 126 

Economy of L. and L.— Salt Lake, Utah. . 264 

Economy of L. and L-— San Francisco 260 

Economy of L. and L. — San Rafael 270 

Economy of L. and L.— Santa Ynez Mts.. 272 

Economy of L. and E.— Shanley, Hon. W. 63 

Economy of E. and E.— Sioux Falls 283 

Economy of L. and L.— Snohomish, Wash 283 

Economy ofL. and E.— Tuscarora, Nev.. . 287 
Economy of L. and E.— Tyler, Texas. . 
Economy of E and L.— Wahpeton. Dak 
Economy of L. and L.— Walla Walla . . . 

Edge Hill Vineyard 

Edwards, J 

Eldridge, T. A 

Ellis, G. A 8 

Elms, F. L .' 127 

El Paso de Robles, Cal 44 

Emerson, E. R 27 

Evanston. Wyoming 44 

Engineering News 87 



Ft. Coeur d'Alene. Idaho 45 
Ft. Collins, Colorado 46 

Ft. Gratiot, Mich .46, 118 

Ft. Pembina, North Dakota 49 

Ft. Sherman, Idaho 49 

Fairbanks, Mayor— Testimony of. 143 

Fairplay, Col 27, 40 

Fanning 82, 84, 89, 306 

Faxon, Wm. E 156, 161 



308 
308 
261 
132 
64 



Federhen, Mr I44 

Fenton, Mich 44 

Fergus Falls Water Company 45 

Finkle, F. C 16, 256, 259 

Fire and Water 80, 114, 255 

First Shipments 7 

Fitchburg, Mass 4= 

Fitts, J. H i ..; 2 8i 

Fitzgerald, Desmond— Testimony of 210 

Flint, J H ISI 

Flood & Mack " ^c 

Ford,J. E 262 

Foss, F. V.. 2S3 

Fowle, Otto ...!.!! 273 

Frame, Andrew 3 I0 

Fraser, J. K , . \ 67 

Fredericksburg, Va 5I 

Fremont, Michigan 50 

French. P. W.— Testimony of 135 190 

Fresno, Cal 50', 268 

Friction— Birmingham, Ala 24 

Friction— Brainerd, Minn 25 

Friction— Brigharu City ..'..'. 26 

Friction— Buena Vista 28 

Friction— Fremont, Mich 50 

Friction— Haswell 95 

Friction— Helena, Mont .'.'.". . 59, 257 

Friction— Howland, A. H 24 

Friction— Huron, Dakota 64 

Friction— Leadville . . 70 

Friction— Eongmont 74 

Friction— Mt. Pleasant, Pa 114 

Friction— Muskegon, Mich no 

Friction— Ogden "Utah n8 

Friction— Salida, Col 263 

Friction— Sandwich, 111 264 

Friction— Seattle, Wash 276 

Friction — Tyler, Texas 288 

Friction— Virginia City, Nev 307 

Friction— Warm Springs. Cal 309 

Friction— Wellsville, N. Y 311 

Fudickar, E 107 

Fuller, G. N .,,) 62 

Fulton, 111 5I 

Funge, Mr II9 

G 

Gallagher, E. F 280 
Galvin, T. L 264 

Gardiner, J. M 124 

Garrian, J. W 44 

Geneseo, Illinois 42, 51, 64 

Geneva, N. Y 6 

Georgetown, Texas 52,288 

Gerber, Andrew. 50 

Gibson, Mr 2S0 

Gilson, L 261 

Glamis, Cal 53 

Gleason, Mr 159 

Gleason, Jedidiah F.— Testimony of 231 

Glenwood, Minn 54 

Glen wood Springs, Col 54 

Glenwood Water & Light Co 54 

Golding, Mr 131 

Golding, Frederick P 151 

Gonzales, Texas 54 

Gordon, Dr 129 

Gordon, J. A.— Testimony of 152 

Gould, G. H 271 

Grand Forks, Dakota 55 

Grand Forks, Michigan 56 

Grand Haven Water Works 56 

Grand Trunk Railway Co 47 

Graves, E. N 267 

Gray, Carroll E 41 

Gray, C. E., Sr 307 

Gray, J. W 125 

Gray, Samuel M. — Testimony of. 208 



846 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



Griffith, W. C 275 

Guilford, A. J 81 

Gunnison Gas & Water Co 5 6 

Gurren, J. W 123 

II 

H ailey, Idaho 57 
Hale, R. S 60 

Hall, F. E 126, 133, 141, 165 

Hancock, Mich 5 8 

Handy, H. P 46, 72 

Hanly, E. F 27 

Hanford, Cal 58 

Hanford, Sentinel 58 

Harnden, F. A 259 

Harrington, R 43 

Harrington, R. T 52 

Harris, D.H 27 

Harrison, A. T 284 

Harper, J. H 3° 

Hartford 9 6 

Haswell, Charles H 82, 84, 95 

Haynes, M. B 77 

Hayward, Mr 263 

Heldsburg, Cal 123 

Helena Consolidated Water Co 60 

Helena, Mont 59 

Heron, G. C 288 

Herring, A. J 107 

Herschel 256 

Hicks, J. J., Jr 121 

Hicks, Mr 277 

Highlands 67 

Hill, F. C. 95 

Hill, John W 82, 84, 87, 89 

Hill, W. R 274 

Hills, F. C 281 

Hillsboro Hydraulic Mining Co 62 

Hoag, Wm. M 314 

Hodge, Charles J 63 

Hoge and Swift 277, 837 

Hogue, C. C 3 [ 3 

Holden, H. G 9°. 96 

Holden, J. O 141 

Holland, Michigan 63 

Hoosic Tunnel 62 

Houghton, Mich 63 

Howden, John J 112 

Howell, W. H 122 

Howells, J. M 268 

Howland, A. H. 24,33,82,84,89,96,126,211, 213 

Huachuca Water Company 286 

Hulnie, I 3 T 4 

Humber., 82, 89 

Huntington 87 

Hurley, Charles B 285 

Huron, Dakota 64 

Hutchinson, A. A 114 

Hydrant Test— Albuquerque, N. M 15, 16 

Hydrant Test— Brainerd, Minn , 25 

Hydrant Test— Brighain City 26 

Hydrant Test— Buena Vista 28 

Hydrant Test— Charleston, W. Va 32 

Hydrant Test— Holland, Mich 135 

Hydrant Test— Mishawaka, Ind 105 

Hydrant Test— Muskegon, Mich no 

Hydrant Test— Salida, Col 262 

Hydrant Test— San Bernardino, Cal 259 

Hydrant Test— Sault Ste Marie 273 

Hydrant Test— Tyler, Texas 288 

Hydrant Test— Wahpeton 307 

Hydrant Test— Wellsville, N. Y 311 

Hygeia Water Company 310 



T nman, George B 282 

1 Institute of Technology 161 

Iowa Hill, Cal 66 



Iron used by the Ancients 37 

Iron 4,000 years old 37 

J 

Jackson, E. H > 280 

J Jacobson 256 

James, David 26 

Jamison, T. H 289 

Jeanesville Iron Works 279 

Jefferson Barracks, Mo 21 

Jenney, W. I,. B 37 

Johnson, H. C 307 

Johnston, C. B 107 

Jones, C. A 66 

Jones, C. C 265 

Jones, C. F 38 

Jones, W. C 38 

Jones & Jacobs 60 

Johns, Z. D. & Co 58 

Judson, C. E 42 

K 

Kalamein Boiler Tubes 836 

Kalamein Pipe Replacing Cast Iron. 54 

Kalamein Sheet Iron 835 

Kansas City Water Co 66 

Kass, J 31 

Kearney, Nebraska 66 

Kebler, E. A 84 

Keeler, H. E 47, 82 

Kelley, M. P 53 

Kelseyville, Cal 67 

Kemble, E. M 29 

Kemph, Mr 263 

Kennicutt, Leonard — Testimony of 171 

Kindred, C. F 25 

Kinney, K. J 54 

Knauff, R. & Co 24 

Koch, Harry G 2 

Kratz, John in 

Kuhn, W. S 18, 66, 312 

I* 

Lake Linden, Mich 67 

Lake Union, Wash 279 

Lake Valley, N. M 67 

Lamb, F. H 43 

Landstiff, Peter ill 

Laredo Water Works Co 68 

Las Vegas, N. M 70, 269 

Lead Pipe Mains 6 

Leadville Water Co 7° 

Ledoit, E- F , 267 

Legg&Shaw 117 

Lieberknecht, J. F 52 

Litchfield, George A 150 

Littlejohn, E. N 45 

London Bridge Water Works 5 

London, Canada 71 

Longmont, Colorado 72 

Longmoiit Daily Tribune 72 

Longmont Ledger 72 

Longmont Press 72 

Loornis, Abner 72 

Los Angeles, Cal 75 

Los Delicios, Sonora, Mex 76 

Louisville, Ky 83 

Lovell, Thomas C 45 

Lowell, Mass 96 

Lowell, Hon. John 129, 151 

Ludington Water Supply Co 70 

Lynde & Hough 260 

Lynn, Mass 147 

Lyon, Mr 255 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



847 



M 

AAcAnarney, J. W., Esq 151 

*" McCanne, D. J 56 

McClelland, W. C 128 

McDonald, Finley 122 

McDonald, J. W 33 

McElroy James E 310 

Mcintosh, Alex 65 

Mclntyre, John 312 

McKee, J. H 72 

McKeesport, Pa 77 

McKeesport Times 80 

McLaue, A. L 68 

McMartin, J. A 47 

McWilliams, H. H 276 

Mt. Pleasant, Pa 114 

Mt. Vernon, Indiana 114 

Maintenance — Albuquerque, N. M 17 

Maintenance — Ashland, Oregon 19 

Maintenance — Aspen, Col 19 

Maintenance — American W. W. & G. Co. 18 

Maintenance — Benicia Arsenal 21 

Maintenance — Britton 27 

Maintenance — Buena Vista 28 

Maintenance — Buffalo, Wyoming 29 

Maintenance— Cast Iron Pipe 427 

Maintenance— Columbia 36 

Maintenance— Deer Lodge 40 

Maintenance — El Paso de Robles, Cal. . . . 44 

Maintenance — Evanston, Wyoming 44 

Maintenance — Ft. Sherman, Idaho 50 

Maintenance — Fenton, Midi 44 

Maintenance — Fergus Falls, Minn 45 

Maintenance — Fulton, 111 51 

Maintenance — Glamis 54 

Maintenance — Glenwood, Minn 54 

Maintenance — Gonzales, Texas 55 

Maintenance — Gunnison 57 

Maintenance — Hancock, Michigan 58 

Maintenance — Lake Linden 67 

Maintenance — Laredo, Texas 68 

Maintenance — Longmont 74, 75 

Maintenance — Los Delicios, Mexico 76 

Maintenance — Mandan, Dakota 77 

Maintenance— National City 116 

Maintenance— Old Tacoma, Wash 121 

Maintenance — Ouray, Col 122 

Maintenance — Phoenix, Arizona 124 

Maintenance — St. Claire 285 

Maintenance — San Rafael 270 

Maintenance— Santa Barbara 271 

Maintenance— Snohomish, Wash 283 

Maintenance — Tuscarora, Nevada 287 

Maintenance— Virginia City, Nevada 306 

Maintenance — Wahpeton, Dakota 308 

Maintenance — Walla Walla, Wash 308 

Maintenance — Waukesha, Wis 310 

Maintenance — Wellsville, N. Y 311 

Maintenance — Whitewood, S.Dakota.... 313 

Maintenance — World's Fair Line 310 

Maintenance — Yaquina, Oregon 314 

Mamaroneck Water Works Co 76 

Manby, C. E 114 

Mandan, Dakota 77 

Manistee, Michigan 77 

Mankato, Minn 77 

Marin County Water Co 270 

Massachusetts Board of Health Report ... 84 

Mather, Mason W 54 

Matheson Joint— Vallejo, Cal 290 

Maurice, Peter 5 

Mayuard, F. T 123 

Maxwell, James R 81, 104 

Meacham, George F , 278 

Memphis 83 

Miller & Brockman 838 

Miller, S. Dakota 64 

Miller, F. E 18 



Miller, Thos. A 261 

Millner & Kettig Company 837 

Milwaukee, Wis 83, 430, 431 

Minneapolis, Minn 430 

Mishawaka, Ind 80 

Mishawaka Water Works Co 86, 103 

Mission Water Company 270 

Missoula Water Works & Milling Co 106 

Molesworth 82, 84, 89 

Monongahela Furnaces 835 

Monroe, La 106 

Monroe, Thomas no 

Monroe Telegraph Bulletin 107, no 

Monroe W. W. & Electric Light Co 107 

Montecito Valley Water Co 271 

Montreal, Canada 431 

Moore, A. G 429 

Morristown, N. J 6 

Morrow, C. C 32 

Morse, Honorable R. M 151 

Morse, W. B 284 

Mowbray, George M 137 

Municipal Investment Co 51, 268 

Muskegon, Mich 54, no, 118 

Myrick, J. W 66 

N 

Nash, S. C. 64 
National City, Cal 115 

Nevada City, Cal 117 

Nevons, Hirman 227 

New American Gas Co 263 

Newark, N. J 432 

New Bedford, Mass , 96 

New Brunswick, N. J 433 

New Castle, Colorado 54 

New Laredo, Texas 68 

Newman Water Company 117 

New Orleans 83 

Newton, Mass 433 

New York 83, 433 

New York Herald Building 835 

Nichols, Professor 220 

Nicholl, T. J 64 

Northwestern Transfer Company 313 

Norman 148 

Norton, Professor 220 

o 

Oakes, W. R 310 
Obelisk— Iron taken from 37 

O'Connor, John 27 

Ogden Standard 119 

Ogden, Utah 118 

O'Kelly, W. A 107 

Old Tacoma, Wash 121 

Oldest Water Works in the U. S 5 

Oregon Pacific Railroad Co 3T3 

Ottawa, Canada 62 

Ottumwa Water Works 122 

Ouray, Colorado 122 

Overton, J. B 306 



Pacific Improvement Company 272 

Pacific Insurance Union 259 

Palo Alto, Cal 122 

Park, H no, 113 

Parker, C. L 313 

Parker, La 20 

Parnell, James 51 

Paso Robles Water Co 123 

Pattee, W. G. A 130 

Patton, W. H 125 

Paymaster Mining Company 54 

Peabody, Mass 6 

Peerless Mining Co 125 

Petaluma, Cal 123 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



Peters, R. G 77 

Phoenix, Arizona 124 

Philadelphia, Pa 83, 123 

Pierce, F. H 70 

Pierre, Dakota 124 

Pierre Water Works 125 

Pinkham, George F 149 

Pittsburg Commercial Gazette 78 

Pittsburg, Pa 83, 118 

Pittsburg Post 79 

Pittsburg Testing Laboratory 838 

Poett, Alfred 123 

Pope, James B 257 

Porter, Charles H 128 

Porter. Ex-Mayor 144 

Portland, N. B 434 

Portsmouth, N. H 6 

Potter, Mr 161 

Powell, William E 281 

Power Furnishing Company 55 

Prentice, Allen T 81, 87 

Preshaw, S. M 119 

Pressure— Ashland, Oregon 19 

Pressure — Aspen, Col 19 

Pressure — Benicia, Cal 21 

Pressure— Buena Vista 28 

Pressure — Fremont, Mich 50 

Pressure — Ft. Sherman, Idaho 50 

Pressure — Hancock, Mich 58 

Pressure — Helena, Mont 257 

Pressure — Longmont 75 

Pressure — Mishawaka, Ind 103 

Pressure— National City 116 

Pressure— Ogden, Utah 121 

Pressure — Phoenix, Arizona 124 

Pressure — Sioux Falls 283 

Pressure— Strange, B. A 53 

Pressure— Wellsville, N. Y 311 

Pressure— Wyoming 29 

Pressure— Yaquina, Oregon 313 

Pressure — 175 feet head — Baker City 20 

Pressure — 200 feet head — Chamberlain, D. 31 
Pressure — 200 feet head — Santa Barbara. . 271 

Fressure— 326 feet head Los Delicios 75 

Pressure — 55 pounds — Missoula, Mont.... 106 

Pressure — 60 pounds — Deer Lodge 40 

Pressure— 80 pounds — El Paso de Robles. 44 

Pressure— 80 pounds — Evanston, Wyo 44 

Pressure — 80 Pounds — Snohomish, Wash. 283 

Pressure— loo pounds— Fulton, 111 51 

Pressure — no pounds — Fenton, Mich 44 

Pressure — no pounds — FergusFalls.Minn. 45 
Pressure — 1 10 pounds— Glen wood Springs. 54 

Pressure— 120 pounds— Britton, S. D 26 

Pressure — 120 pounds— Wahpeton, Dakota 307 

Pressure— 125 pounds — Ouray, Col 122 

Pressure — 132 pounds— Columbia 36 

Pressure — 135 pounds — Gonzales, Texas.. 55 
Pressure — 150 pounds— Grand Forks, Dak. 55 

Pressure — 150 pounds — San Rafael 270 

Pressure — 150 pounds — Sault Ste Marie. . . 273 
Pressure — 160 pounds — Tombstone, Ariz.. 286 
Pressure — 167 pounds — Bessemer, Mich. . . 22 
Pressure — 170 pounds — OldTacoma.Wash. 121 
Pressure — 175 pounds— Columbus, Texas. 40 

Pressure — 200 pounds — Albuquerque 15 

Pressure — 200 pounds— Charleston, W. Va 23 
Pressure— 200 pounds— Georgetown, Tex. 52 
Pressure — 200 pounds — Salt Lake, Utah. . . 263 

Pressure— 216 pounds— Tyler, Texas 288 

Pressure— 230 pounds — Brainerd, Minn... 25 

Pressure — 230 pounds — Ogden, Utah 118 

Pressure— 250 pounds— Aberdeen 15 

Pressure — 250 pounds— Butte, Mont 30 

Pressure — 250 pounds — Ft. Gratiot, Mich. 47 

Pressure— 250 pounds— Gunnison, Col 56 

Pressure — 250 pounds — St. Claire, Mich . . . 284 
Pressure — 250 pounds — World's Fair Line. 309 
Pressure —280 pounds — Sauk Centre, Minn 272 



Pressure— 300 pounds 
Pressure— 300 pounds 
Pressure — 300 pounds 
Pressure — 300 pounds 
Pressure— 300 pounds- 
Pressure— 306 pounds - 
Pressure — 315 pounds- 
Pressure — 900 pounds- 
Pressure — 1,000 pounds- 
Pressure— 1,100 pounds 
Pressure — 1,200 pounds 

Prest. C. C , 

Priddy, C. N 

Probst, Rudolph 

Providence, R.I , 



Ft. Collins, Col 46 

Howland, A. H... 24 

Pierre, Dak 125 

Sandwich, 111 264 

Sierra City, N. M. 280 
Tuscarora, Nev. . . 287 

Lake Linden 67 

Test 281 

Test by Schussler 286 

Glamis, Cal 53 

Ouijotea District, 126 

3H 

70 

3°, 277 

6 



Q 

Quijotea District, Ariz 125 
_ Ouincy, Mass 97, 126 

Ouincy, Award of Commissioners 254 

Ouincy Water Company 126 

R 

Red Bluff, Cal 255 
Renwod, R. J 268 

Rice, E. C 77 

Rice, H. J 64 

Richardson, W. D 69 

Riffle & Hinkle 295 

Riley, Geo. N 138, 179 

Rills, E. H 107 

Riveted Pipe 41, 57, 279, 307 

Roberts, W. W 50 

Robinson, Hon. Geo. D 134, 144, 151, 253 

Robinson, H. F 124 

Rochester, N. Y 256 

Rohan Bros. Boiler Manufacturing Co... 836 

Rohan, Phil S36 

Root Special Riveted Pipe 57 

Roster ... 147 

Rowland, B. W 289 

Rowley, H. W 23 

Ruddiger, E. A 31 

Russell, W. S 55 

Russell & Alexander 262, 263 

Rutherford, John W 82, 84, 89 



St. Augustine Water Works 312 
St. Claire, Mich 118, 284 

St. Helena Gold Mine 75 

St. Johns, N. B ... 434 

St. Louis 83 

St. Louis Power Depot 21 

St. Paul, Minn 434 

Salem, Mass 6, 96 

Salida, Col 72, 262 

Salida Daily Sentinel 262 

Salida Montana Mail 262 

Saltenfield, J 36 

Salt Lake & Odgen Gas & Elec. Light Co. 263 

San Bernardino, Cal 256 

San Bernardino Courier 258 

San Bruno, Cal 259 

San Diego Land & Town Co 115 

San Diego Water Company 295 

Sandwich, Illinois 264 

San Francisco, Cal 260 

San Gabriel Water Works Co 52 

San Pedro, N. M 51, 267 

San Rafael, Cal 270 

Santa Barbara 270 

Santa Ynez Mountains 272 

Sarviers, N. J . . 25 

Sauk Centre Tribune 273 

Sauk Centre Water Co 272 

Sault Ste Marie, Mich 273 

Savage, H. M 116 



INDEX TO CONVERSE JOINT SYSTEM. 



849 



Savannah, 111 275 

Schenck, A. A 313 

Schiller, W. B S36 

Schindler, John J 105 

Scholtz, Sanchez & Co 305 

Schussler, Herman 2S6 

Schutt, Jerome H 15 

Schwabacher Bros. & Co 276, 277 

Scott, A. J 58 

Seattle, Wash 275 

Seneca Falls Water Co 835 

Shanley, Honorable Walter 62 

Shaw, Ex-Councilman 147 

Shaw, John 144 

Shaw, John C 274 

Shedd, J. Herbert 235, 251 

Sheffler, William 261 

Shefold, Frank 90 

Shelton, Thomas 25, 76 

Shenandoah, Pa 279 

Shenandoah Evening Herald 2S0 

Shickle, Harrison & Howard Iron Co 56 

" Sickle of the Sphinx " 37 

Sierra Apache Mining Co 280 

Sierra Bella Mining Co 280 

Sierra City, N. M 2S0 

Sierra Flume Lumber Co 255, 260 

Sierra Grand Mining Co 2S0 

Sierra Plata Mining Co . . 280 

Silver Bow Hydraulic Mining Co 30 

Silver Bow Water Company 30 

Silver Mining Co., The 67 

Simmons, W. L 264 

Sioux City, Iowa 280 

Sioux City Daily Journal 281, 283 

Sioux Fails Water Co 283 

Slade, James H. — Testimony of 135 

Smith, J. W 52 

Smith, N. J 272 

Smock, E. H 29 

Sneath, R. G 260 

Snohomish, Wash 283 

Snyder 85 

Socorro, N. M 2S3 

South Chicago Rolling Mill 161 

South Framingham, Mass 130 

Spencer, W. S 27 

Spiral Riveted Pipe 57 

Spiral Weld Pipe 19, 41, 276 

Spokane Falls, Wash 284 

Spring Valley Water Co 286 

.Standard Mines & Coke Works 114 

Stanford, Governor 122 

Stanford, Josiah 309 

Starr & Company 261 

State Board of Health, Mass 129 

Stearns, R. E- C, University of California 22 

Steel used by the Ancients 37 

Stetson, C. J 16 

Stever, F. J 60 

Street, J. P 38 

Sturgeon, R 31 

Sweet- Water Dam 116 

Syracuse, N. Y 274 

T 

Tacoma Light & Water Co 285 
Taylor, F. M 274 

Taylor, Lucian A 132, 208 

Taylor, W. W 51 

Terre Haute Water Works Co ico 

Texas Water & Gas Company 35, 288 

Thayer, E. W no 

Thompson, Prof. Charles 84, 89, 90, 96 



Thompson, H. C 271 

Thompson, R. H 277 279 

Tidd, Marshall N .' 202 

Tide Water Pipe Line ?6 

Toledo 83 

Tombstone, Arizona 2S6 

Trapschuh, Chas. J 4 ? i 

Trautwine 82,84,89,04, oc 

Trousdale, C. H 107 

Troy, J. W I2 ' 5 

Tubercles— Cast Iron Pipe 37, 43 

Tuscarora Water Works Company .' 286 

Tyler Water Company 289 

U 

[ Ikiah Water Company 289 

^ United Pipe Line . 36 

United States Government 45 



\/allejo, Cal 2 8 9 

v Van Patten, George 5 6 

Van Wert, Ohio 87 

Varney, N. E 73, 74 

Venezuela 



305 

Virginia City, Mont 161 

Virginia Citv. Nevada 305 

Virginia & Gold Hill Water Co 106 



w 

Wahpeton, Dak 
Walker, M 

Walker, Robert 

Walker, T. S 

Walla Walla Water Co., Washington 

Wangenhein, E. S 

Warm Springs, Cal. 

Water Supply Co., Albuquerque, N. M. . 

Watrous, W. F 

Waukesha, Wis 

Waukesha Hygeia Mineral Springs Co. . . 

Webster, E. E 

Welleudorf, L. . . 

Wellsville, N. Y 

Wellsville Water Co 

Werkman, R. E 

Westerfield, S. C 

West Jerse}' Water Company 

Weymouth 

Wheless, A. M. . 

Whitewood, S. Dak 

Whiting, F. B 

Whitman, Herbert T.— Testimons' of. 

Wiley, S. L 

Williams, George T 

Wilson, John W 

Wing. C. G 

Winsby, E 

Wollaslon 

Womelsdorf. Engineer 

Wood. R. D. 

Wood, R. D., & Co 

Wood Pipe 5, 47, 

Woodruff, L. F 

Woolstou, George F 59, 

Worcester, Mass 6, 96, 

Works, William Mc Adams 

Worthiugton Compam- 



307 
45 

270 
54 

308 

117 



3°9 
310 

25 
22 

3ii 
312 

63 
262 
256 
147 

35 
313 

67 
212 
26S 



295 

133 

279 

81 

S7 

7i 

264 

257 

133 

279 

307 



Vaquina, Oregon. 



313 



850 



INDEX TO BURST CAST IRON WATER MAINS. 



BURST CAST IRON WATER MAINS. 



A 

A ddyston Pipe & Steel Company 365 

ii Alexander, Superintendent 351 

Allegheny, Pa 316 

American Water Works Association 351 

Artingstall, Samuel G 331 

Atlantic City Water Company 315 

Auburn, Maine 316 



Babcock, Chief Engineer 351 
Bartlett, Joshua C 360 

Bath, Maine . .. 316 

Belleview, Kentucky 315 

Benzenberg, City Engineer 351 

Berriman, Peter 371 

Besley, Supt 322 

Boston, Mass 316 

Brooklyn, N. Y 317 

Browne, Supt., Pittsburg, Pa 360 

Brunswick, Maine 316 

Brush, Chief Engineer 351 

Burke, Supt 334 



Camden Iron Works 318 
Chicago, Illinois 320 

Chicago Edison Company 323 

Chicago Evening Journal 350 

Chicago Evening News 322, 325 

Chicago Evening Post 325, 326, 334, 340 

Chicago Interocean 322, 356 

Chicago Mail 340 

Chicago News 339, 341 

Chicago News Record 339 

Chicago Times 321 

Chicago Tribune.323, 325, 334, 339, 340, 341, 342 

Cincinnati & Newport Iron & Pipe Co 320 

Clapp, J. Russell 318 

Clarke, City Engineer 324 

Cleveland, Ohio 342 

Consumers Water Co., Atlantic City, N. J. 315 

Covington Water Works 315 

Crane Elevator Company 341 

Cusminger, Officer 354 

D 

pvayton, Kentucky 315 

L^ Dennis Long & Co 331 

Dennistou, Clerk, 365 

Dexheimer, John P 359 

E 

Engineering News 315, 318 
Engineering Record 316, 371, 372 

Espy, Mr 352 

F 

Cetter, W. 1 346 

Fire & Water \ 27l < 3l6 ' 3I7 ' 342 ' 348 

Fire & water -j ^ ^ ^ ^ 3?0 

Foss, Packard & Co 316 

Fowler, Charles E 369 

Freel, Edward 318 

G 

Garner, Supt 351 
Gerrecke, Chief Engineer — Chicago. 322 

Gilchrist, John F 323 

Greenville, Mich 374 

Graham, James 323 

Graham, Inspector 339 



I! 

LI alberg, Oscar 339 

n Hale, Chief G. C 344 

Hartford, Conn 343 

Hartford Steam Boiler Insp. & Ins. Co 343 

Hawkins, Gen. Supt 341 



[ ndustrial World 344 

L Invention— London 350 



Jackson, G. W 332 

J Jeraldine, City Engineer 340 

Jones, B. F 347 

K 

Kansas City, Mo 344 
Kansas City Journal 347 

Kansas City Times 348 

Kingsley, Supt 342 



Lake, 111 322 
Lakeview, 111 350 

Law, William H 372 

Lawrenceville 350 

Lewiston, Maine 316 

Locomotive 343 

London, Eng 350 

Ludlow, Supt 360 

M 

McKeesport, Pa 354 

McKeesport, Paragon 354 

McKeesport Times 354 

Manufacturer & Builder 325 

Marshall, Field & Co 340 

Monroe Packard & Linscott 316 

Moody, Supt 325 

Morrow, E. S 366 

N 

National Water Works Co 347 
Newport, Kentucky 315 

New York, N. Y 355 

New York Herald 320, 359 

New York Sun 316, 356, 359 



o 



grange, New Jersey. 



Peoria, Illinois 359 
Philadelphia, Pa 360 

Pierce, J. H 355 

Pittsburg, Pa 360 

Pittsburg Chronicle 362, 370 

Pittsburg Commercial Gazette 365 

Pittsburg Dispatch 316, 361, 362, 364, 368 

Pittsburg Evening Chronicle 361 

Pittsburg Leader 361, 362 

Pittsburg Telegraph 361 

Ponca, Nebraska 369 

Portland, Conn 370 

Portland, Maine 316 

Portland, Oregon 370 

Portland Morning Oregonian 370 

Poughkeepsie, New York 369 



INDEX TO BURST CAST IRON WATER MAINS. 



851 



R 

D ahway, New Jersey 370 

!*• Reading Foundry Company 318 

Reynolds, Supt 341 

s 

St. Johns, N. B 371 
St. Louis Globe Democrat 372 

Shannon, John 348 

Shaw, Mayor of Bath 316 

Sioux City, Iowa 371 

Sioux City Journal 371 

South Wilmington, Delaware 315 

Springfield, Illinois 371 

Stanton, City Engineer, Chicago 321 

Steubenville, Ohio 371 



T 

TheTechnic 372 
Toronto, Canada 372 

Tyndall, Doctor 350 

U 
I T niversity of Michigan , 372 

w 

Warren Foundry & Machine Company. 318 

West Superior, Wisconsin 375 

West Superior Call 375 

Wilmington, Delaware 315 



CORRODED, 1NCRUSTATED AND TUBERCULATED 
CAST IRON WATER PIPE. 



A 

Albany, N. Y 397 

^* Albany Evening Journal 397 

Albany Morning Express 397 

Allegheny City, Pa 403 

American Contract Journal 398 

American Society of Civil Engineers. .384, 415 

Appleton, J. H 389 

Armstrong, Superintendent 403,405. 407 

Atkinson, Edward 381 

B 

Dailey, Geo. H 379 

D Bayonne, N. J 397 

Bayonne Times 397 

Billings, Dr 400 

Boardman, Wm.H 399 

Booth, J. E 419 

Box, Thomas 376 

Bracket, Dexter , 386 

Briggs, George A 3S9 

British Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 388 

Brooklyn, N. Y 397 

Brooklyn Eagle 397 

Browne 403, 404, 408 

Brush, Mr 386 

Burton, W. K 399 

c 

Chesbrough, E. S 386 
Cincinnati & Newport I. and P. Co. . 378 

Civil Engineers' Pocketbook 381 

Cleveland, S. D. W 419, 420, 421 

Crennell. Mr 414, 417 

Crow, Chief 403, 406, 407 

Cutler, James G 419 



D 

Daniels, Travers 3S3 

Darcy 386 

Davis, Joseph P 399 

Detwiller, Financial Commissioner 396 

De Varuna, Chief Engineer 396 

Dickinson, H. C. 398 

Duane, James 384 

Dundee Water Works 395 

Durfee, W., Jr 391 

Durham System of House Drainage 399 

Durham, C. W 399 



Eaton, Edw. M 388 
Ellis, G. A 378 

Engineering 388 

Engineering News 384 

Engineering Record 388, 424 

Engineers' Society of Western Penn 3S9 

Evening Telegram Philadelphia 413 



Fall River Gas Works — 391 
Fall River, Mass., Water Works 389 

Fanning, J. T 379 

Fire & Water 392, 396, 397, 425. 426 

Fitzgerald, Desmond 3S6, 415 

Forbes, F. F 382 

Francis, Col. James 382 

Freeman, J. R 39 2 

Froude, W 378 

Fteley, Mr. A 421 



Greene, George S . . 
Grosleine, W. H. 



379 
419 



852 



CORRODED, 1NCRUSTED, TUBERCULATED CAST IRON PiPE. 



Hamilton, Dr. F. H 4°° 
Harlow, James H 389 

H. M. S. " Edgar " 378 

H. M.S." Royal George " 378 

Herring, Rudolph 399 

Hexammcr's Insurance Map 412 

Hilyer, Fin. Commissioner 396 

Holliday, G. L ^°3 

Houghton, W. B 403, 4°4 

House Drainage Company 396 

House Drainage Corporation Ltd 399 

Hunker, Major 4°7 

Hunt 391 

Hunt & Clapp 39 - 

Hunter, Pres. Com. Council, Allegheny.. 407 

Hutton, William 386 

Hyatt, Professor 4 l6 



Institute of Civil Engineers 393 

J 

J ersey City 395 

J Johnstone, J 397 

K 

1/elly, J. Miller 419, 420, 421 

r\ Kimball, W. S 419 

King, Charles 388 

Kirkwood, James P 389 

Kuitchliug, E 420, 421 



Lawless, Hon. Frederick 399 
London Engineer 397 

Loudon Sanitary Protective Assn 399 

Lowry 39 2 

M 

McAleer, Poor Guardian 411 
McElroy, Samuel 398 

McHarg, T 400 

McMillan. T 421 

McNeil, Thomas 404 

Mackinson, Mr 395 

Mallet, Robert 380, 394 

Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Ins. Co 381 

Massey, W. F. B. Hon 399 

Monongahela Water Company 401 

Murdock, Gilbert 422 

New England Water Works Assn 392 
Nichols, L. L 414 

North of England Institute of Mining 
Mechanical Engineers 376 



o 

r~)gden, John L 4°9 

^ Oliver, Harry 401 

Oviatt, Mr 414, 417 



parley, General 378 

' Parson, Win. Barclay 385 

Peout, Henry G 399 

Philadelphia, Pa 408 

Philadelphia Press 411 

Philadelphia Public Ledger 411 

Phillips 392 

Pittsburg, Pa 401 

Pittsburg Commercial Gazette 401 

Pittsburg Dispatch 403, 406, 407 

Pittsburg Leader 403, 406 

Pittsburg Telegraph 403, 404 

Pittsburg Times 407 

Popular Science Monthly 400 

Q 

r~\uebec 425 

R 

Rafter 414 
Ratch, William 389 

Rawlinson, Mr 393 

Reitz, Mr 403 

Robertson, Hon. A. C 403 

Rochester, 413 

Rogers, Clinton 419 

Ruggles, Engineer 396 

s 

St. Johns, N. B 422 
Salem, Mass 424 

Salem Engineering News 425 

Sanitary Era 402 

Sanitary News 401 

Sanitary Record 399 

Selye, D. W 420 

Simpson, Acting Mayor of Jersey City.. . . 396 

Slade, Mr 380 

Snyder, Overseer 411 

Sullivan, Wm. H 419, 420, 421 

Swallow, R. T 376 

Syracuse, N. Y 425 

T 

Talbert, Col. The Hon. W. P 399 

1 Taylor, C. Fayette 399 

Torquay 395 

Trautwine, John C 381 

Tribus, L. L 386 

Tubbs & Rafter 414 

V 
Wail, Steven 399 

w 

Waring, Col 399 
Warren Foundry & Machine Co.. . . 389 

Water & Gas Review 424 

Western Society of Engineers 398 

Whitney, Charles P 399 

Wingate, Charles F 399 

Wood, R. D 382 

Woodbury, C. J. H 382 

Y 
Voung, James S 4°7 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



853 



CAST IRON PIPE SCRAP. 



B 

Dridgewater Gas Company 435 

c 

Cast Iron Pipe Scrap 435 
Chicago, Illinois 439 

Chicago Mail 439 

Crosby, Horace 437 

D 

P\ennis, Long & Company 439 



E 



engineering News. 



/^uilford, A. J 444 



J 

[ones, Commissioner of Public Works 439 

K 

1/ tihns E. Louis 439 

M 

\Jl orris, S. & Company. .-. 443 

N 
View York Herald 444 

R 

D epublic Iron Works 437 

s 

C chwartz Iron & Metal Works 443 



CAST IRON PIPE WEIGHTS. 



B 

Batchelder, Geo. E 447 
Beach, G. E 446 

Burlington, Iowa 446 



Cast Iron Pipe Weights 445 
Chandler, Geo. H 446 

Coggeshall, R. C. P 447 



E 



engineering Record. 



M 



Harrison, John W. 
Hood, Charles. 



448 



446 
446 



K 



K 



alamazoo, Mich 446 

Keokuk, Illinois 445 



M 



M 

assachusetts State Board of Health 447 

Minneapolis, Minn 446 

N 

New England Water Works Assn 447 
Northwestern Water & Gas SupplyCo 446 
Noyes, Albert F 447 



)eoria Water Works 445 



Shickle, Harrison & Howard Iron Co... 446 
Stripe, W. C - 445 

Studer, A. M 445 



w 



w 

atertown. Mass 447 

Worcester, Mass 447 



COST OF LAYING CAST IRON PIPE. 



B 

Drown, Geo. H 449, 452 

c 

/Cincinnati & Newport Iron & Pipe Co. . 453 

F 

French, D. W. Patent Pipe Cutting Ma- 
chine 454 

G 

f uilford, A. J 456 



I aying Cast Iron Pipe 449 



Oittsburg, Pa. 



•449. 453 



C mith, Benjamin C. 



854 



INDEX TO ARTIFICIAL GAS. 



ARTIFICIAL GAS. 



Adrian Gaslight Company 464 
Appleton Gaslight Company 464 

Athol Gas Works 464 

Atlantic Gaslight Company 464 



Beatrice Gas Company 465 

Benchley, H. B 476 

Blinks, William 471 

Braddock Gas & Light Company 465 

Branct, L. C 472 

Brown, H. W 471 

Butterworth,;, Thomas 475 



Charlotte Gas Company 466 
Clark, Matt 477 

Cody 475 

Cowell, Thomas 472 

D 

Davis, F. R 464 
Dickson Gas & Electric Light Co 466 

Douglas, D 471 

Drake, L. A 466 

Duluth 473 

B 

Eau Claire Gas Company 467 
Edgerton, Mr 478 

Ellebeck, T. W 475 

Emery, Charles E . . 472 

Eureka Gas Company 467 



Cairfield Gas Works 468 

' Fergus Falls 473 

Fritchman, W. H 473 

Fuller, Henry M 468 

& 

n ray, C. E 473 

^-J Greenville Gas Works 468 

Griffin, M 467 

Gunnison Gas & Water Co 468 



H 

LJicksville 469 

1 * Higgins, Thos 472 

Hooker, F. A 466 

Hume, J. M 469 



I ones, C. D 479 

J Judge, E. M 478 

K 

1/ ennedy, E. S. T 472 



Laclede Gas Company 476 
Lukens, W. H 477 



M 

McCanne, D. J 469 
McCleary, W. W 465 

McClellan, W. C 478 

McKeesport Gas Company 469 

McMillan, Emerson 476 

McMillin, F. E 468 

Macomb Gas Works 469 

Maxwell, Ed. P ... 465 

Michigan City Gas Company 471 

Miller, W. B 464 

Minneapolis Gaslight Company 471 

Modesto Gas Works 471 

Muscatine Gaslight Co 472 

Mutual Gaslight Company 472 

N 

Neemes, W. C 470 
Neenah & Menesha Gas Company. . 472 
New York Steam Company 473 

o 

Oshkosh Gas Company 474 
Ottawa Gas, Light & Coke Co 473 

P 

Pacific Iron Works 476 
Palestine Light, Heating & Fuel Co. . 473 

Peris, France 474 

Parisian Gas Co 474 

Parsons, W. C 477 

Patterson, P 469 

Patton, D. J 469 

Peoples Gaslight Co 466 

Perkins, B. W 476 

Perkins, N. C 473 

Philadelphia Gas Works 478 

Prints, Eugene 465 

R 

Racine & Oshkosh Gas Co. 474 
Raynor, C. H 464 

Red Oak Gaslight Co 474 

Ripou 472 

Ripon Lighting Co 475 

Rochford, Illinois 475 

Rodgers, John 474 

Rose, C 468 

s 

Salt Lake City Gas Co 475 
Shaffer, O. P 476 

Societe des Tuyaux Chameroy 474 

South Bend Gaslight Company 476 

Standard Gas Company 476 

Standard Gaslight Company 476 

Steel, George 466 

Stillwater Gaslight Company 476 

Stranahan, R. A 477 

Streator Gas Works 477 

T 

Tonawanda Gas Works 477 

W 

Wallingford, Conn 478 
Washington, Iowa 468 

Waterloo Gaslight Co 479 

Wiley, S. L 464 



INDEX TO BURST AND LEAKY CAST IRON GAS MAINS. 



855 



BURST AND LEAKY CAST IRON GAS MAINS. 



A 

A re Light Company 484 

B 

Barrett, John P 482 
Beckwith, Leonard F 501, 503, 506 

Birdsall, George W 501, 503 

Board of Electrical Control 504, 506, 511 

Bradley, W. H 516 

Brooklyn, N. Y 481 

Brooklyn Standard Union 481 

Brown, Senator 500 

Burst and Leaky Cast Iron Pipe 480 

c 

Charlestown, S. C 502 
Chase, Senator 500, 502 

Chicago, Illinois 481 

Chicago Contract & Construction Co 486 

Chicago Daily Globe 491 

Chicago Daily News 480, 495 

Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Co 484 

Chicago Evening News 490 

Chicago Herald 483, 494, 495 

Chicago Inter-Ocean 483, 487, 494 

Chicago Mail 491, 493 

Chicago News Record 490 

Chicago Record 494 

Chicago Times 483, 490, 491 

Chicago Tribune, 486, 487, 489, 491, 493, 494, 496 

Chichester, H. H 486 

Coggeshall, Senator 500, 502 

Commercial Advertiser 511 

Consolidated Gas Company. .498, 508, 509, 513 
Con. Telegraph & Elect. Subway Co. .501, 506 

Converse, E. C 512 

Crimmins, John D 509 

D 

Davenport, Iowa 495 
Denver, Colorado 495 

Dickerson, Edward M 502 

Downer, J. W., Jr 512 

E 

Economic Gas Company 484 
Edison Company, Chicago 4S8 

Electrical Subway Company 503 

Enters, E. J 5°7 

Equitable Gaslight Co 507, 509 

Erwin, Senator Geo. Z 500, 502, 511 

F 

Fire & Water 49 2 
Flannery, Joseph 501, 503 

G 

General Laws Committee 502 
Gibbens, Daniel L 499, 504 

Gilroy, Commissioner 517 

Grant, Hugh J 499, 505, 506, 514 

H 

Harlem Gas Co 5°9 
Hess, Jacob, Commissioner 505, 514 

J 

I ournal of Commerce J09 

K 

Kearney, Henry S 505. 5" 
Knickerbocker Gaslight Co 509 

Knudson, Adolphus A 503 

Kuhns, E. Louis 49 1 



Laclede Gas Company 510 
Lauterbach, Edward 506 

Loomis, Horace 501, 503 

Louisville, Kentucky 481 

M 

Manhattan Gaslight Company 509 
McMillan, Emerson 510 

Metropolitan Gaslight Co 509 

Moss, Mr 514 

Municipal Gaslight Company. 509 

Mutual Gaslight Company 499, 506, 513 

N 

Newark, N. J 517 
New York City 49 6 

New York Commercial Advertiser 499 

New York Evening Telegram 497 

New York Gaslight Company 5°9 

New York Herald 507, 515, 518 

New York Mutual Gaslight Co 5°9 

New York Steam Heating Co 513 

New York Times 5° 8 > 51° 

New York World 501. 5°5 

Northern Gaslight Co 5°9 

Peoples Gaslight & Coke Co 494 

1 Prentiss, F. H 516 

R 

Ridgway, Subway Commissioner 516 
Riley, Supt. Con. Gas Co 5°8 

s 

Senate Committee 5 11 
Shaffer, O. P 5" 

Sickles, Gen. Daniel E 5°c, 5 02 

Smith, D. Lowber 5°3, 5°6 

Spinola, F. B 5°6 

Springfield, Mass 4 8 ° 

Springfield Republican 4 8 ° 

Standard Gaslight Company 

499> 503. 505, 506, 5°9i 5!°. 512 

State Senate Committee 502 

Stone, Editor 5°9 

Strong, John B 5°4 

Subway Commissioners 5°4 

Subway Construction Co — 5° 8 

V 

Van Gorder, Senator. 500. 5°2 
Vedder, Senator 5°2 

Verdict for §15,000.— Damages 494 

w 

Washburn, Mavor 49° 
Webb, William 5°4 

Wheeler, Engineer 497. 51° 

Williams 4 8 4 

Wilson 484 

Y 

yonkers Gaslight Co 5°9 

z 

Volikoffer, Vice-Prest 5°6 



856 



INDEX TO GAS LEAKAGE. 



GAS LEAKAGE. 



A 

Adams, Mass 525, 526, 528, 541 

Adams Gaslight Company 530 

Addicks, W. R .. 531 

Adrian, Mich 519 

Albany, N. Y. 519 

Albion, N. Y 519 

Albion Gas Company . 522 

Allen, I. B 539 

Allentowii, Pa 519 

Allyu, H. A 534 

American Gaslight Assn 543 

Amesbury 526, 528 

Amherst 527 

Amsterdam. N. Y 519 

Annapolis, Md 519 

Arlington 525, 526, 528 

Ashtabula Gas Works 523 

Athens, Ohio 519 

Athol 526. 528 

Attleborough 526, 528, 541 

Attleborough Gaslight Co 531 

Auburn, N. Y 519 

B 

Baker, Edwin H 540 
Barker, Forest E 525 

Barnesville, Ohio 519 

Barrie. Can 519 

Bartlett, Lewis 524, 533 

Bay City, Mich 519 

Bay State (Boston) 526, 528, 531, 541 

Bellaire, Ohio 519 

Beverly 526, 528 

Bigelow. H.N 533 

Board of Gas & Electric Light Commis- 
sioners, (Mass.) 524 

Bordentown, N. J 519 

Boston 525, 526, 528, 531, 541 

Boynton. D 532 

Bristol, Conn 519 

Brockton, Mass 519, 525, 526, 528, 541 

Brockton Gaslight Co 53T 

Brookline 525, 526, 528 

Brownsville, Pa 519 

c 

Cairo, 111 519 
Cambridge 520, 525, 526, 528, 541 

Cambridge Gaslight Co 534 

Caneen, J. S 523 

Canton, Ohio 52a 

Charlestown 52=;, 526, 528 

Charlotte, B. C 520 

Charlottesville, Va 520 

Chelsea, Mass ,520, 526, 528 

Chicopee 526, 528, 541 

Chicopee Falls 527 

Chicopee Gaslight Co 532 

Circleville, Ohio 520 

Citizens ( Wakefield) 526, 528 

Citizens (Ouincy) 526, 528 

City Gas Co., London, Can 524 

Clinton 525, 526, 528, 541 

Clinton Gaslight Co 533 

Coggeshall, H. F 522, 535 

Columbia, Tetm 520, 523 

Columbus, Miss 520 

Concord, N. H 520 

Cooperstown , N. Y 520 

Cortland. N. Y 520 

Cottage City 526, 528 

Cottage Cily & Electric Light Co 524, 533 

Covington, Ky 520 

Cumberland, Md 520 



D 

Danvers, Mass 520, 526, 528, 541 
Danvers Gaslight Co 534 

Danville, 111 520 

Deadham 525, 526, 528 

Denny, W. P 523 

Des Moines, Iowa 520 

Dickinson, Geo. P .... 538 

Dorchester 526, 528, 531 

Dover, Del 521 

Duffield, William 524 

E 

East Boston 526, 528 
East End Gas Company 542 

Easthampton 526, 528, 541 

Easthampton Gas Company 535 

East St. Louis, 111 520 

Ellsworth, Maine 522 

Elvert, Supt 523 

Evansville, Ind 520 



Call River 526, 528 

1 Fitchburg, Mass 520,526,528, 541 

Fitchburg Gas Co 522 

Fitchburg Gas & Electric Co 535 

Framingham 526, 528 

Fulton, NY 520 

G 

Gallipolis, Ohio . 520 
Gas Leakage 519 

Georgetown, Col., Gas "Works 523 

Georgetown, D. C 520 

Gilcreast, J. Supt 540 

Gloucester 526, 528 

Grand Raoids, Mich 520 

Greenfield 526, 528 

Gunison, Col 520 

II 

Hagerstown, Md 520 
Hallowell, Maine 520 

Hamsburg, Pa 520 

Hannibal, Mo 520 

Hanover, Pa 520 

Harris, Geo. S 522 

Haverhill 526, 528 

Hempstead Plains, N. Y 520 

Hillsboro, Ohio 520 

Holyoke 526, 528 

Honesdale, Pa 520 

Houston, Texas 520 

Hume, J. M 523 

Humphrey, R. C 523 

Hyde Park, 111 520 



I pswich , 



527 



Jackson, Mich 520 
Jackson, Mich. Gas Works 523 

Jamaica Plain 526, 528 

Janesville, Wis 520 

Jefferson, Mo 520 

Jeffersonville. Ind 520 

Johnston, N. M 522 

Jones, Edw. C 522, 543 



INDEX TO GAS LEAKAGE. 



857 



K 

Kansas City, Mo 5 2 ° 
Kellogg, L. L 523 

Keokuk, Iowa 520 



I aclede Gas Co. 524 

L< Lane, H. M 536 

Lawrence 526 

Lafayette, Ind 520 

Lawrence, Kan 520, 52S 

Leach, Henry B 539 

Leakage— Gas 5!9 

Leominster 54 1 , 5 2 7 

Leominster Gas Co 53 6 

Lexington, Ky 5 2 °» 5 2 7 

Logan, Ohio 520 

Lowell 525> 526, 528 

Lynn 525, 527, 528, 541 

Lynn Gas & Electric Co 536 

M 

McMunn, Mr 534> 537 
McMillan, Emerson 5 2 4 

Mt. Sterling Gas Works 5 22 

Macomb, 111 5 2 3 

Macon, Ga 520 

Madison, Ind 520 

Maiden 5 2 5, 527, 5 2 8 

Maiden & Melrose Gaslight Co 536 

Manchester, George L 535 

Mansfield, Ohio 5 20 

Manufacturers' (Fall River) 527. 5 2 8 

Marblehead 527, 528 

Marlborough 527, 5 28 

Marshall, Mich , 521 

Martinsburg, W. Va 521 

Mattoon, 111 5 22 

Mechanicsburg, Pa 5 21 

Mechanicsburg Gas Works 522 

Middleborough 5 2 7 

Milford, Del 5 2I > 5 2 8, 54* 

Milford, Del., Gas Company 522 

Milford Gaslight Co 537 

Milford, Mass 5 2 7 

Millers River 5 2 8 

Milton, Pa 5 21 

Montreal, Can 521 

Mooney, E. D 53 2 

Moore, D 5 2 3 

N 

Nantucket 5 2 7, 5 2 8, 541 
Nantucket Gaslight Company. . .524, 537 

Natick 5 2 7i 5 2 8 

Nebraska City, Neb 521 

Nebraska City Gas Works 523 

New Bedford 5 2 5. 5 2 7. 528, 541 

New Bedford Gas & Edison Light Co 537 

Newburyport, Mass 521, 527, 528, 541 

Newburyport Gas & Electric Co 537 

New Rochelle, N. Y 5 2 i 

Newton, Mass 521 

Newton 5 2 5. 5 2 7, 528, 541 

Newton Gas Company 538 

Norristown, Pa 5 21 

North Adams, Mass 521, 527, 528 

Northampton 5 2 7. 5 2 8, 541 

Northampton Gaslight Co 538 

North Attleborough 5 2 7, 5 2 8 

Norwood 527, 528 

Nutter, J. J 537 

o 

Otis Company 539. 54i 
O'Neill, D. J 534 

Ottawa, Ont 5 2 * 

Owego, N. Y 521 



P 

Pawtucket, R. 1 521 
Philadelphia, Pa 521 

Philipsburg, N.J 521 

Pittsfield, Mass 521,527,52s, 541 

Pittsfield Gas Company 538 

Pittston, Pa 521 

Plainfield, N. J 521 

Plymouth 527, 528 

Portland, Oregon 521 

Portsmouth , Va 521 

Price, Charles R 537 

Pritchard, C. F 536 

Q 

Quebec, Can 521 

R 

Richmond, Ky 521 
Rochester, N. Y 521 

Rockville, Conn 521 

Roxbury 527, 528, 531, 541 

s 

St. Louis. Mo 521 
St. Paul, Minn 521 

St. Thomas, Ontario 521 

Salem, Mass 521, 525, 527, 528 

Salem, Mass. Gas Works 523 

Sedalia, Mo 521 

Seif ert, A 522 

Sewickley, Pa 521 

Shaffer, O. P 524 

Sharon, Pa 521 

Sharon Gas Works 542 

Sharpsburg, Pa 521 

South Boston 527, 52S, 531, 541 

South Boston Gas Works Co 522 

Southbridge 527 

Spencer 527, 528 

Springfield, Mass 521, 525, 527, 528, 541 

Standard Gaslight Co 524, 539 

Stearns, G. A 524, 539 

Stillwater Gas Works 522 

Stofer, William 522 

Stoughton 527 

T 

Taunton 525, 527, 528, 541 
Taunton Gaslight Co 539 

Thomas, S. P 538 

Tilton, D. D 538 

Topeka, Kansas 521 

Troy, New York 521 

Tucker, George E 54° 

u 

Union Gaslight Co., N. Y 521 
Upton, Daniel 524, 531 

Virginia, Nev 521 
Virginia, Nev. Gas Co 523 

w 

Waltham 525, 527, 52S, 541 
Waltham Gaslight Co 524, 539 

Ware 527. 52S, 541 

Warren, Pa 521 

Webster 527, 5 2 8 

Westfield 5 2 7, 5 2 8 

West Troy, N. Y 5 2 i 

Williamstown ... 527 

Winchester, Va 521 

Woburn 5 2 7. 528, 541 

Woburn Gaslight Co 540 

Worcester 527, 5 2 8 

Y 

Voungstown, Ohio 521 

I Ypsilanti, Mich 521 



858 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



NATURAL GAS. 



A llegheny Heating Company 548 

B 

Dishop, H. W .549, 563 

LJ Bitner, John R 562 

Booth & Flynn 573 

Bray, Thomas J 551 

Bridgewater Gas Company , 545 



/^allahan, Mi 566 

^— ' Carnegie Natural Gas Co 546 

Chartiers Valley Gas Co 545, 549, 551, 555 

Collins, J. V 570 

Columbia Gaslight Co 546 

Converse, 15. C 557 



jgwing, Judge 547, 575 

K 

Clynn , William 566 

* Foley, Patrick , , 555 

G 

/""aley,, John H 565 

r^u G£ ^ lvi S £ L 553, 555 

Gillespie, T. A 562 



II 



H 



artupee, W. J.. . 
Has well, Prof. 



•551, 553 
546 



Insurance Association of Allegheny Co. . 548 



J 
ohnstown Water Company. , 575 



M 



McDowell, Coroner cv? 

McFadden, J. B 54S 

McKeesport Times 575 

Manufacturers' Natural Gas Co 546, 557 

Monongahela Construction Company, 559, 574 

Monongahela Natural Gas Co 559, 573 



N 



National Transportation Company. .546, 559 
Natural Gas 545 

New York Sun 573 

North Side Gas Company 546 

o 

il City Fuel Supply Co 559, 567 

Oliver, James B 559, 574 



o 



Oark, W. G 563 

* Park Bros. & Company 563 

Penn. Fuel & Fuel Gas Companies. ... 573, 575 

Pennsylvania Gas Company 546 

Philadelphia Company . .... 546, 547, 561, 562 

Picket, H. F 563, 564 

Pine Run Gas Company 546 

Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph 571 

Pittsburg Dispatch 566, 572 

Pittsburg Leader 567, 572 

Pittsburg Nat. Gas Co 563 

Pittsburg Telegraph 573 



piley, George N 555, 559, 564, 565 



Shenango Nat. Gas Company 545, 563, 564 

Siemens, Prof 575 

Southeast Natural Gas Co 546 

Southeastern Natural Gas Co 548 

Southwest Natural Gas Company 546 

Springfield Gaslight Company 539 

Stowe, Judge 572 

Strong, F 561 

X 

Tate, Gen. Superintendent 553, 557 
Trautwine, J. C 546 

w 

■\A/estmoreland & Cambria Natural Gas 

VV . Co . 546,565,575 

West Virginia Natural Gas Co 565 

Wheeling Intelligencer 557 

Wheeling Natural Gas Company 546, 565 

William, James 575 



Vo.mg, John. 



548 



DELIVERING CAPACITY, WROUGHT IRON PIPE. 



Drooks, T. W 5 86 

D 

r\unham, Carrigan & Hayden Company 586 

F 
panning 57 6 

II 

Uartupee, W. J 576 

1 » Haswell C76 



N 



"KJatural Gas Conditions 587 



Denn. Fuel Company 587 

R 

D iley, George N 586 

s 

C tewart, George R 587 

X 

Trautwine 576 

w 

Western Penn. Engineers' Society 587 
Wood, C. T. X, 587 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



859 



COMPRESSED AIR. 



i> 

Pjunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company 588 

F 

porman, Charles 588 



prescott, Scott & Company. 



-payl 



X 



or, Thomas G 



w 



Welsh, T. W 
Westinghouse Air Brake Company. 



Yellow Jacket Silver Mining Co. 



REPORTS OF CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS. 



Acme Gas Company 618 
American Society of Civil Engineers 512 
Aston, England 610 

B 

D ailey , William and Son 601 

D Battin, I, 60S 

Bolton, George 606, 618 

Bolton & Doubleday 606 

Booth & Flynn 606 

Boston, Mass 610 

Boston "Water Board 611 

Boyd, H. E 592 

Burlingame, E. E 601 

Brooks, T. W 594, 607, 612 

Browne, George H 612, 615 



Church. A. K 839 

Contra Costa "Water Company 610 

Craft, Mr 602 

Croes, J. James R 605 

D 

Dame, A. A 617 
Dempster, A 600 

Doubleday, John W 606, 618 

Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co 597 

E 

■engineering News 604 



Canning, J. T 605 

1 Finkle, F. C 615 

Fitts, D. W., Councilman 603 

Frankford, T. C 616 



o 



Galvin, T. X, 
Graham, J. M. 
Gwinner, Fred. 



618 

594 
607 



H 



Halifax, N. S 611 
Haswell, Charles H 603, 608 

Helena, Mont 610 

Horsley Fields Chemical Works 601 

Heald, Mr 617 

Howard, John L, 596 

Howland, A. H 617 



larboe, Walter S 605 

J Johnson, C. 597 

Jones, E. W. T 600 

K 

Kalamein — meaning of 616 
Kedzie, R. C 590, 591 

Keating, Mr 612 



Manby, C. E. 
Manufacti 



M 



„ .• 591, 594, 596 

Manufacturer & Builder 616 

Marre, Mr 597 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. . . 610 

Michigan State Agricultural College 590 

Mowbray, George M 597, 598 



K 



610 



XJichols, William Ripley 

o 

/^\regon Improvement Company 597 

Pacific Coast Railway Company 597 
Park, H 596 

Patterson, Peter. 617 

Public Analyst laboratory— Wolver- 
hampton 600 

R 

River Pollution Commission of Massa- 
chusetts 61 1 

Russell & Alexander 602 

s 

Salida, Col 602 
San Diego Flume Company 594 

Schussler, Herman 602 

Spring Valley Water Works 602 



'Trautwine, John C 604, 608, 610 

V 

Wan Schulz, A 589, 590 

w 

Western Gas Association 608 
Whitney, Henry W 618 

Wuth, Otto , 599 



860 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



WROUGHT IRON, 

A 

Alliance Gaslight Company 
American Gas Journal 

American Water Works Association 

B 

Dayles, James C 

D Butterworth, Thomas 

c 

/^antine, Mr 

D 

Deutscher Verein von Gas und Wasser- 
f achmanner 

E 

Economic Gas Fuel Company 
Egner, Mr 

Engineering Record 

F 

Forbes, Mr., English Electrician 
Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Germany. . . . 

G 

/"• illespie, T. A 

II 

LJ aswell 

I 
Iron & Steel Institute, England 



CAST IRON OR STEEL? 



621 
627 

631 



631 

62.1 



633 



634 

627 

631 



633 
634 



626 



627 



62s 



Laclede Gaslight Company 626, 627 
Lauffen, Germany 634 

Littleton, A. W 619 

ML 

A/T cCleary, W. W 624 

J'l McKeesport Gas Company 624 

Manby, C. E 624 

Manufacturer 631 

N 
eemes, W. C 624 



N 



o 



Oechelheuser, V 633 
Overton, J. B 623 

P 

Philadelphia Natural Gas Company 626 

* Printz, Eugene 619, 627 

s 

Chaffer, O. P 624 

*J Smith, Hamilton, Jr 628,632 

Standard Gaslight Company 524, 627 

T 

Thomas, Joseph R 627 
Trautwine, J. C 



626 



w 



\X/estern Gas Association 619 

z 

7anesville Gaslight Company 619 



CAST IRON 

A 

American Water Works Assn...636, 639, 656 
Anonymous Circular 655 

B 

Bell, Thos. J 656 
Boston Gaslight Company 644 

Briggs, Mr 639 

Briggs, J. G 640, 656, 659 

Buena Vista, Colorado 636 

c 

C arsons, J. M 636, 640 
Cast Iron Syndicate Pamphlet 635 

Cincinnati Water Works 656 

Clark, Robert & Co 655 

Columbia, Tenn 636, 654 

Converse, E. C 64S 

Cox, Louis J 642 

Craven, A. W 635 

Croton Aqueduct Department. ....... 635 



SYNDICATE. 

D 

Daniel, Travers 655 
Dennis, Long & Co 656 

Dunham, Mr 640 

E 

Ellis, G. A 652 
Engineering News 656 

F 

Fitch, A. B 642 
Fitzgerald, Mr 654 

o 

/^ardner, Mr 639 

H 

Hartford 638 
Holden, Horace G 638, 640 

Howland, A. H , 642 



INDEX.— CAST IRON SYNDICATE. 



861 



ndian Orchard 644 



1 ane, Mr 647 

OT 

\J[ cKeesport 654 

iV» Manby, C. E 642 

Monroe, La 107 

N 

National Galvanizing Works 642 
New Bedford 638 



o 



/^jilCity, Pa.. 

Parker, J. A.. 
Payne, Mr. 



654 



642 



Q 

r^uincy, Mass 636 654 

R 

Randell, Mr 654 
Retraction 660 

s 

Salem 638 
Shefold, Frank 640 

Sioux Falls Water Works 636 

Springfield 644 

T 

Terra Haute Water Works 640 
Thompson, Prof. Chas. O, 637, 640 

V 

Won Shultz, A 653 

W 

Wellsville, N. Y 636, 654 
Worcester 63S 

Worcester County Institute of Technology 647 
Wuth, Otto 653 



RETRACTION. 



A ddy, Matthew 660, 667, 668, 670, 673 

**■ Addy, Matthew & Company 668 

Addyston P. & S. Co.. 662, 666, 667, 670, 673, 674 

American Water Works Association 661 

American W. W. & Guar. Co 664, 666, 667 

Anderson, W. P 662, 670 

B 

D ig Rapids, Michigan 664 

c 

Chicago Mail 667 
Converse, E. C 666, 667, 673 

Cunningham, A. D 674 

D 

Davis, W. h 662, 670, 673 
Davis, T. B 674 

Davis Company •••• 674 

Domhoff, C. H 668 

G 

p uilford, A. J 660 



II 



662, 670 
.... 674 



JToughton, B. F 

n Huntington, L. F 

I 
Illinois Electric Forging Company 662 

K 

Kebler, E. A 66o, 662, 667, 670, 673 
Kiihn. W. S 666 



Kuhn, W. S 



674 



I ietch, Robert & Son 

R 

Raymond, Harry 674 
Rockford, Illinois 664, 666, 667 

Roosevelt Company, W. A 674 

Runkle, William 660 

w 

Warder, John H 662, 667, 673 
Warren Foundry & Machine Co 660 

Wood, R. D. & Company 660 



862 



INDEX TO THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



Adrian, Michigan 682 
Albany, N. Y °° 2 

Albion, N. Y °°2 

Allegheny, Pa °°° 

Amsterdam, NY °° 2 

Anderson, Indiana °° 2 

Annapolis, Md °° 2 

Appleton, Wis °° 2 

Ashtabula, Ohio °° 2 

Athens, Ga • • • °J> 2 

Attica, N. Y °J 2 

Augusta, Maine °£ 2 

Aurora, Indiana 6 ° 2 



B 



Ballston, N. Y 
Barrie, Canada 

Batavia, N. Y 

Bath, Maine 

Bay City, Mich 

Beaver Falls, Pa 

Belfast, Maine 

Bellaire, Ohio 

Bellefontaine, Ohio , 

Binghamton, N. Y 

Birmingham, Conn 

Bordentown, N. J 

Boston, Mass 

Bournemouth, England. 

Bridgeport, Conn 

Bridgeton, N. J 

Bristol, R. I 

Brooklyn, N. Y 

Browne, George H 

Brownsville, Pa 

Bucyrus, O 

Buffalo, N. Y 

Burlington, Ohio 

Butler, Pa 

c 



Cadiz, Ohio 
Cairo, Illinois 

Calais, Maine 

Cambridge, Mass 

Canandaigua, N. Y. 
Canton, Ohio... . . 

Carthage, Mo 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Charlotte, N. C 

Charlottesville, Va . . 
Chatham, Canada. . . 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Clinton. Iowa 

Concord, N. H 

Cooperstown, Ga 

Corning, N. Y 

Cortland, N. Y 

Council Bluffs, Iowa. 

Covington, Ky 

Crafts, N. Henry 

Crawfordsville, Ind. 
Cumberland, Md 



682 
682 
682 



682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
713 
682 
682 
682 
682 
680 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 



682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
682 
686 
682 
682 



D 



Danvers, Mass 
Dover, Del 

Dover, N. H 

Duncan, D. J. Russell. 

Duncan Bros 

Dunkirk, N. Y 

Dupre, Dr., London .. 



683 



690 



E 

East St. Louis, 111 683 
Eau Claire, Wis 683 

Elgin, 111 683 

Elkhart, Indiana 683 

Ellsworth, Me 683 

Evansville, Ind 683 

F 

Ft. Wayne, Indiana . 683 
Fairbane & Unwin 695 

Fairfield, Iowa 683 

Fall River, Mass 681, 683 

Fargo, Dakota 683 

Fitchburg, Mass 683 

Flint Mich . . 683 

Fredonia, N. Y 683 

Fremont, Ohio , 683 



Galena, Illinois 683 
Galesburg, Illinois 683 

Gardner, Maine 683 

Gallatin, Texas 683 

Georgetown, D. C 683 

Georgetown, Kentucky 683 

Glen Falls, N. Y 683 

Gloucester, N. J. 683 

Grand Rapids, Mich 683 

Greenfield, Mass 683 

Greensburg, Ind 683 

Greensburg, Pa 683 

Gunnison, Colo 683 

II 

Hagerstown, Md 683 

Hallowell, Me 683 

Hamsburg, Pa 683 

Hanover, Pa 683 

Hempstead Plains, N. Y 683 

Hillsboro, Ohio 683 



Indiana, Pa. 



Iamesville, Wis , 
Johnstown, N. Y. 



683 



I afayette, Ind 683 

L* Lancaster, Pa 683 

Latrobe, Pa 683 

Lebanon, Ky 683 

Lebanon, Ohio 683 

Leominster, Mass 683 

Lexington, Ky 683 

Lincoln, Illinois 683 

Logan, Ohio 683 

Logansport, Indiana 683 

Long Branch, N. J 683 



M 



AAcKeesport, Pa. 
JV1 Mt. Pleas 



Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 

Mt. Sterling, Ky 

Manchester, N. H 



687 



INDEX TO THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



863 



Mansfield, Ohio 684 

Marblehead, Mass 683 

Marshall, Mich 684 

Mauch Chunk, Pa , 684 

Meadville, Pa 683 

Mechanicsburg, Pa 683 

Medina, New York 684 

Meriden, Conn 684 

Middlesboro, Mass 683 

Milford, Del 684 

Milford, Mass 684 

Minneapolis, Minn 684 

Moline, Illinois 683 

Monmouth, Illinois 684 

Montpelier, Vermont 683 

Montreal, Canada 681, 684 

Morris, Illinois 684 

Muncie, Indiana 681, 684 

N 

Nashua, N. H 684 
Natchez, Miss 684 

Natick, Mass 684 

National Transit Company 68S 

Nebraska City, Neb 684 

New Albany, Indiana 684 

Newark, N. J 6S4 

Newark, Ohio 684 

New Bedford, Mass 684 

New Britain, Conn 684 

Newburg, N. Y 684 

Newton, Mass 684 

Newton, Scotland „ 689 

Niagara Falls, N. Y 684 

Niles, Mich 684 

Norristown, Pa 684 

North Adams, Mass . . 684 

o 

Oskaloosa, Iowa 684 
Oswego, N. Y 684 

P 

Paris, Illinois 684 
Paris, Kentucky 684 

Paterson, N. J 684 

Pawtucket, R. 1 684 

Penn Yann, N. Y 684 

Philadelphia, Pa 680 

Phillipsburg, N. J 684 

Pittsburg, Pa 680, 684 

Pittsburg Dispatch 680 

Pittsburg Leader 688 

Pittsburg Testing Laboratory 686 

Pittston, Pa 6S4 

Plainfield, N. J 684 

Plattsburg, N. Y 684 

Plymouth, Mass 684 

Plymouth, Pa 684 

Portland, Maine .... 684 

Portland, Oregon 6S4 

Portsmouth, Ohio 684 

Portsmouth, Va 6S4 

Poughkeepsie, N. Y 684 

Q 

Quebec, Canada 684 

R 

Racine, Illinois 684 
Richmond, Kentucky 684 

Ripley, Ohio 6S5 

Riveted Pipe .'. 687 

Rochester, N. J 684 



Rock Island, Illinois 684 

Rockville, Conn .. 68s 

Rome, Ga '.'.'.'..'.'.'. 6U 

Rome, N. Y 6 8s 

Roxbury, Mass . .' .. 684 

Rushville, Iud 68/l 

Russeii, w.j ;;;;;;; 6gg - 

s 

C t. Albans, Vermont 6Ss 

<-> St. Bartholomew's Hospital ...... 600 

St. Catherines, Ontario 6Ss 

St. Joseph, Mo ..".; 68 5 

St. Louis, Mo 68s 

St. Paul, Minn 6 8s 

Sag Harbor, N. Y '//// 68s 

Santa Rosa, Cal " ' 68s 

Schneider, W. T .'.681! 688 

Sedalia, Mo 68s 

Sewickley, Pa g8s 

Shelbyville, Ind ...!'!! 68s 

Sidney, Ohio !""!'.! 68s 

Sioux City, Iowa ..'......' 68s 

South Boston, Mass '...'.'. 68s 

Springfield, Mo .' .' 68s 

Steel Co. of Scotland, Ltd '.'.'.'.'.'. 68q 

Sterling, Illinois 68s 

Stewart, A. & J., Limited ......'. 680 

Stillwater, Minn \'" 685 

X 

'Trautwine 68s 

1 Tay Bridge .','"_[ 68g 

Tay Viaduct 6 go 

U 

I InitedPipe Lines 681, 688 

^ Unwin ,. 6 95 

V 

Walparaiso, Ind 685 

V Vancouver Water Works Co 713 

Vincennes, Ind 685 

Virginia, Nevada 685 

w 

Waco, Texas 68s 
Wallace, William 70 2 

Warren, Ohio 685 

Warren, Pa \\ 685 

Washington, Ind 685 

Washington, Ohio . 6S5 

Watertown, Mass , 686 

Watertown, Wis 6gc 

Watson, James 690 

Waverly, N. Y 685 

Wellsville, Ohio 68s 

Welton, W. S 699, 704 

Wilkesbarre, Pa 6S5 

Windsor, Canada 685 

Winnipeg, Man 685 

Winona, Minn 685 

Woburn, Mass 6S5 

Woodstock, Ont 6S5 

Worcester, Mass 6S5 

Y 

Voungstown, Ohio 685 

z 

Vanesville, Ohio 685 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



CEMENT LINED PIPE. 



B 



Baltimore, Maryland 714,727 
Beverly, Mass 728 

Blake, Percy M 723 

Boston Water Works 722 

Brackett, Dexter 722 

Burlington, Vt 714 



Charlestown 722 
Chelsea, Mass 716,725 

Concord, N. H 714 

Concord Water Works 723 



B 



Davis, Charles S 725 
Dedham Water Company 714 



Cire & Water 728, 

r Fiske, W. D 722, 



o 



Goodhue, C. L. - 722,723 
Goodhue & Birney 722 

Guilford, A. J 727 

II 

Hartford, Conn 714 
Hingham Waterworks 722 

J 

lack, W. H 728 



Keene, N. H 
Kimball. 



J 

K 



728 

Kimball, John 723 



I ombard, 725 

L" Lowell, Mass 719 

M 

Manchester, N. H 719 
Manchester Water Works 723 

Melrose, Mass 721, 722, 723 

Miller, W. H 722 

Morse, T. W 725 

!N 

Natick 725 
New Bedford, Mass 725 

Norton, John R 722, 723 

o 

ak Grove & Sierra Verde Cattle Co 728 







Parker, F. H 714 
Perkins, J. H 724 

Plymouth Water Works 724 

R 

D ochester Water Works 729 

s 

Seymour, C. W. S 723 
Springfield, Mass 722 

w 

Walker, Charles K 723 

Warren, Prest. Dedham Water Co. 717 

Waterbury, Conn 727 

Watertown Water Supply Company 723 

Worcester, Mass 728 



SPIRAL 

A 

Anaconda, Montana 
Anacortes, Wash 

Ashland, Oregon 736, 

B 

Barrett, John & Company 
Bayles, J. C 

Brooks, T, W 

c 

phalk, W. T 

^-« Coit, E. W 739, 

Converse, IS. C 

B 

Pvodge, Ira C 

*-* Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co 

E 

Cddings, Mr 

*-* Fngineer'gNews&Am.Ry Journal 741, 

II 

Hart, W. R. & Co 
Hayes, James X, 



WELD PIPE. 



736 

742 



I/eeler, H. E. 



K 



738 



I loyd & Lloyd 



H 



\Jf cMinnisville, Oregon 739 



Dt. Angeles, Wash. 



o 

erne: 



/"V Connor, Mr 736 

*— ' Oregon Improvement Company 738 



739 



R 



D iverside Iron Works 740 

s 

Ceattle, Wash 736 

*-> Spiral Weld Tube Co. . ..738, 740, 741, 742 
Sutherland, G. H 739 

w 

Walla Walla, Wash 739 
Waukesha Hygeia Mineral Spgs Co. 741 
Williamson, Thomas M 742 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



865 



RIVETED PIPE. 



A merican Water Works Association 730 

D 

Duncan, D. J. Russell 730 
Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Co.... 732 



Engineering News 733 
Engineering Record 733 

Engineering Review — London 735 



laenes, Harold 733 

K 

1/ uichling, Chief Engineer 732 

R 

D ochester, N. Y , 732 

s 

Steam Users' Assn. — Manchester, Eng.. 733 
Steel Pipe Company, Ltd 730 



WOOD PIPE. 



A rtesian Hot & Cold Water Co., Ltd 746 

B 

Doise City, Idaho , 746 

c 

/^itizens Water Co., Denver, Col 745, 746 

D 

Denver Republican 746 
Denver Water Company 746 

B 

Engineering & Building Record 745 
Engineering News 746 



II 



II owe, B. S. 



746 



fndustrial World 746 



T ead Poisoning 746 



o 



o 

ttawa Water Works 743 



MATHESON JOINT. 



merican T. & I. Co 747, 750, 753, 756, 757 



B 



rooks, T. W. 



759 



Carnegie Bros. & Company 753 
Carnegie Gas Company 755, 758 

Chartiers Natural Gas Company. .... .755, 756 

Converse, E. C 748, 75° 



II 

757, 759 

Holmes, Committeeman 752 



Hoffman, F.A.... 
Holmes. Comn 



K 



I/eppel, Superintendent Gas. 



752 



M 



VAatheson Joint. 



760 



R 



Riley 



, George N 755, 757, 759 



' houlder, Louis 752 



"Tate, R. B 755 

I Tiffin Natural Gas Company 751 

w 

Welsh, J, D 752 



CLASSIFIED INDEX. 



PENNSYLVANIA TUBE WORKS LEAD JOINT. 



/^"arnegie Natural Gas Company 763 

M 

\A atheson Joint 760 



Pennsylvania Tube Company. 

s 

C weeny , John 



763 



763 



ELECTROLYSIS. 



A lbany, NY 804 

t* Allyn, H. A 764 

Amer. Institute of Electrical Engineers. . 790 

American Water Works Association 776 

Atlantic Avenue Railway 778 

Aurora 111 811 



Benzenberg, G. H 804 
Boston. Mass 764, 790 

British Committee 811 

British Parliament 775 

Brooklyn, N. Y 778, 804, 818 

Brooks, T. W 817 

Brown, Professor 773 



/Cambridge, Mass 764, 782, 804, 811 

v- 1 Cambridge Water Works 768 

Chester, Pa 781, 813 

Chicago, 111 782, 814 

Chicago Herald 779 

Cincinnati, O 806, 814 

Claude. Mr 783 

Clerc, M 774 

Columbus, O 782 



E 

Edison Company 774 

Electric Club 779 

Electrical Engineer 822 

Electrical Transmission Co 774 

Engineering News 775 

Engineering Record 765, 775, 777, 812 

F 

Farnham, Isaiah H 790, 809 
Fire & Water 773, 777, 782, 784 

Prance 783 

G 

Gardner, Mr 772 
Goodell, John M 782 



II 

Hamilton, Ont 782 
Hazen, Mr 772 

Hoge & Swift 817 

Holden, Mr 772 

Humphreys, H. H 779, 816 

I 

Industrial World 783 

» Industrie Electrique 783 

Institute of Electrical Engineers 813 

J 

jousselm, M. P 773 

J amb, C. A 817 

L Lee, Fred R , 826 

Lee, John C 807 

Lewis & Fowler 812 

Los Angeles 782 

M 

McDevitt, William 778 
McTighe, Thomas J 778 

Marseilles & St. Louis Electric Railway. . 782 

Miller, A. S 817 

Milne, Peter 776 

Milwaukee 782, 804 

Milwaukee Street Railway Company. . . . 785 
Morse, Charles H 764, 765 

N 

Nevons, Mr 765 
New England Assn. of Gas Engineers 764 
New England Teleg. & Telephone Co . . . 809 

New England Telephone Company 764 

New England Water Works Association. 765 
New York & New Jersey Telephone Co. . . 821 

P 

Pearson, Fred S 799 
Philadelphia Fire Patrol 778 

Philadelphia Fire Underwriters 778 

Plympton, George W 826 

Portland, Oregon 812 

Preece, W. H 782 

Preller, Dr 782 



INDEX TO ELECTROLYSIS. 



867 



R 

Rastron, J. D 813 
Rau, O. N ...785 

Reilly, J. C 821 

Rochester, N. Y 804 

Rockland, Maine 804 

s 

St. Louis Electric Railway . 782 

Saginaw, Mich 775, 777, 782 

Saginaw Street Railway Company 775 

Sault Ste Marie 782 

Schieren, Charles A 821 

Smith, W. Nelson 812 

Speidel, E 775. 777 

Street Railway Review 789 

Suinrnerville, James 817 

Supreme Court of Tennessee 816 

Swift, Mr 817 



X 

T haver 812 
Thomson, Elihu, Prof 795, 813 

Thomson, George T 817 

Tidd, Mr 772 

Towne, W. 1 791 

Trenton, N. J , 782 

Tripp, O. H S04 

U 
j I nion Railway Company 81S 

w 

Warner & Thayer 812 
Washington 814 

Water & Gas Review 818 

Wells, A. T S06 

West End Railway Company 766, 799 

Western Electrician 773 

Western Gas Association 783, 808 

Wisconsin Electric Club 785 



RUSTING OF IRON. 



1$ 



Uauerman, Mr... 833 



Bell, Sir Lowthian 
Brown, A. Crum, Prof. 



Gautier, M 831 
Gibson, Dr 



II 



S33 



831 



Hawksley, T. 
Head, Jeremiah 831 

M 
Aylason College— Birmingham 832 



)revention of Rust. 



S34 



Snelus, Mr 831 
Society of Chemical Industry S32 

T 

Tilden, Dr 832 
Turner, Mr 832 

w 

Ward, W. J 
VV willian 



Williams, F. H 



833 

S34 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



American Institute of Mining Engineers 457 
American Water Works Association. 461 



Dayles, J. C. 



B 



G 



f aylord Iron & Pipe Co 461 

if 

Health Department— New York City... 460 
Hunt, Robert W. & Co 461 



Institute of Mining Engineers. 



461 



painting Joints 586 

s 

C pecifications for cast-iron coated water- 
^ pipe 457 



"Tubbs, J. Nelson 461 



Vardley, Thos. W 457, 461 










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